Time in Lithuanian: Hours, Half Past, and Schedules

Telling the time is a basic skill. In Lithuanian, ordinal numbers are used for this, and they change form depending on context — whether you're simply stating the time or arranging a meeting.

Whole hours — "What time is it now?" (Vardininkas)

To say what time it is now, use the nominative form. The question is Kiek valandų? (How many hours? / What time is it?):

Dabar yra devinta valanda. — It is nine o'clock.

Note: for hours 13–24 you can use either 12-hour or 24-hour format.

"At what time?" — Arranging a meeting (Galininkas)

When arranging a meeting, the time goes into the accusative case. Question: Kelintą valandą? (At what time?)

Rule: ending -a → -ą, valanda → valandą:

Examples:

• Susitinkame devintą valandą. — We meet at nine.
• Susitinkame pirmą valandą. — We meet at one o'clock.

Kelintą valandą susitinkame? — At what time do we meet?

Half past (Pusė valandos)

"Half" in Lithuanian refers to the half of the next hour. The genitive case is used:

Rule: pusę + genitive: ending -a → -os

Dabar yra pusė antros. — It is half past one (13:30). Susitinkame pusę ketvirtos. — We meet at half past three (15:30).

Working hours: "from … to …" (nuo … iki …)

For schedules, use nuo (from) and iki (until) + genitive of ordinal numbers: ending -a → -os:

• Bankas dirba nuo aštuntos iki penktos valandos. — The bank is open from eight to five.
• Dirbame nuo devintos iki šeštos valandos. — We work from nine to six.
• Pietų pertrauka yra nuo dvyliktos iki pirmos. — Lunch break is from twelve to one.

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