Last updated on May 8, 2022
Jam is not exactly the same as the English “o’clock”. “O’clock” is only used in English to mark the hours and not the divisions of an hour. We say “two o’clock” but not “two thirty o’clock” or “half past two o’clock”.
In Indonesian jam is placed in front of all expressions of the time of day. Make sure you don’t pronounce jam like the English word for a kind of sweet sandwich spread. The Indonesian word jam has a long /a/ sound and should rhyme with the English word “arm”. It often sounds like “jum”.
| 10:00 or ten o’clock | jam sepuluh |
| 10:15 ten fifteen fifteen minutes past ten | jam sepuluh seperempat jam sepuluh lima belas jam sepuluh lewat seperempat jam sepuluh lewat lima belas menit |
| 10:30 ten thirty thirty minutes past ten | jam setengah sebelas jam sepuluh tigapuluh jam sepuluh lewat tiga puluh menit |
| 10:45 ten forty five forty five minutes past ten fifteen minutes to eleven | — jam sepuluh empat lima jam sepuluh lewat empat puluh lima menit jam sebelas kurang lima belas menit |
| fifteen seconds | lima belas detik |
| fifteen minutes | lima belas menit |
| five hours | lima jam |
| half an hour | setengah jam |
Example:
Jam berapa?
What time? What’s the time?
Jam berapa sekarang?
What time is it now?
Jam berapa Anda ke kantor?
What time are you going to the office?
Jam berapa Anda bangun pagi?
What time did you get up?
Saya bangun jam 6 pagi.
I got up at 6 o’clock in the morning.
Berapa jam?
How many hours?
Lima jam
five hours
Berapa lama?
How long?
Click here to learn more about Indonesian language.
