Having learned to count in Twi, and equipped yourself with our time-telling vocabulary, let’s now move on to see how to actually tell time in Twi. We begin with the o’clocks.
Video Lesson
The Twi term for ‘o’clock’ comes in two forms: there is the singular form ‘dɔn’, and the plural form ‘nnɔn’.
The singular form dÉ”n is ONLY used to tell 1 o’clock. From 2 o’clock, all the way up to 12 o’clock, we use the plural form nnÉ”n.
The following are the list of o’clocks in Twi.
| Twi | English |
|---|---|
| dɔnko/dɔnkoro | one (1) o’clock |
| nnɔnmienu | two (2) o’clock |
| nnɔnmiɛnsa | three (3) o’clock |
| nnɔnnan | four (4) o’clock |
| nnɔnnum | five (5) o’clock |
| nnɔnsia | six (6) o’clock |
| nnɔnson | seven (7) o’clock |
| nnɔnwɔtwe | eight (8) o’clock |
| nnɔnkron | nine (9) o’clock |
| nnɔndu | ten (10) o’clock |
| nnɔndubaako | eleven (11) o’clock |
| nnɔndumienu | twelve (12) o’clock |
Check out the parts that have been emboldened in the table above. Do they ring a bell? I hope they do. If not, go back to our lesson on how to count in Twi and check out the paragraph right before the tenth numbers (10, 20, 30, 40, 50… 100).
We’ve mentioned that to ask for the time in Twi, we ask “abÉ” sÉ›n?“. Now, to tell the time, we simply follow “abÉ” (it has struck)” with the current time. So by following abÉ” with the o’clocks above, you will be saying, for example, it’s 1 o’clock, it’s 2 o’clock, it’s 3 o’clock, etc.
| Twi | English |
|---|---|
| abÉ” dÉ”nko/dÉ”nkoro | it’s one (1) o’clock |
| abÉ” nnÉ”nmienu | it’s two (2) o’clock |
| abÉ” nnÉ”nmiÉ›nsa | it’s three (3) o’clock |
| abÉ” nnÉ”nnan | it’s four (4) o’clock |
| abÉ” nnÉ”nnum | it’s five (5) o’clock |
| abÉ” nnÉ”nsia | it’s six (6) o’clock |
| abÉ” nnÉ”nson | it’s seven (7) o’clock |
| abÉ” nnÉ”nwÉ”twe | it’s eight (8) o’clock |
| abÉ” nnÉ”nkron | it’s nine (9) o’clock |
| abÉ” nnÉ”ndu | it’s ten (10) o’clock |
| abÉ” nnÉ”ndubaako | it’s eleven (11) o’clock |
| abÉ” nnÉ”ndumienu | it’s twelve (12) o’clock |
Lastly, to add a.m. or p.m., we just introduce the name of the time of day right before the o’clock. Find examples below:
| Twi | English |
|---|---|
| abÉ” awia dÉ”nko | it’s 1 p.m. |
| abÉ” anwummerÉ› nnÉ”nsia | it’s 6 p.m. |
| abÉ” anÉ”pa nnÉ”nson | it’s 7 a.m. |
| abÉ” anÉ”pa nnÉ”nwÉ”twe | it’s 8 a.m. |
| abÉ” anadwo nnÉ”ndu | it’s 10 p.m. |
| prÉ›mo ato | it’s midday; it’s noon |
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