How to Tell the Time and Talk About Days in Wolof
Knowing how to place an event in time is essential for everyday communication. In Wolof, the key word is waxtu, which means âhour.â This page presents questions, answers and expressions recorded by our native-speaking teachers.
You will learn how to ask what time it is, name parts of the day - morning, midday, afternoon, evening - and identify the days of the week that appear in our recordings.
The word âwaxtuâ: hour in Wolof
waxtu means âhour.â It appears in questions about the time, in time indications and to express a duration. Our recordings also show the form waxtaan in the sentence Sama waxtaan bi Talaata la ci suba bi, ci fukk i waxtu. (My meeting is on Tuesday morning at ten o'clock.) That single sentence combines a day, a part of the day and a specific time.
Asking what time it is
Our recordings give several ways to ask:
Click the button after a phrase to hear it spoken by a teacher.
- Fane la waxtu wi toll ? - What time is it now?
- Baal ma, bane waxtu moo jot ? - Excuse me, what time is it?
- Kañ la reunion bi ? - What time is the meeting?
- Kañ lay tambali ? - What time does it start?
- tukki bi niata waxtu la ? - How many hours does the journey take?
Expressing a specific time
Here are the times and time expressions found in our recordings:
- Nient waxtu, bu soobé yalla. - Four o'clock, if God wills it.
- Ăeent waxtu rekk. - Four o'clock only.
- Juroom-ñeent waxtu ak genn-wall. - Nine thirty.
- fukk i waxtu bu tégal ñent simili - It is ten four (10:04). It's a little late.
- Ci fukk waxtu guddi. - At ten o'clock in the evening.
- Waaw, kon ci fukk waxtu ak genn-wall ! - Yes, so at ten thirty then!
Our recordings show three spellings for the word âfourâ: Nient, Ăeent and ñent.
Parts of the day
- suba - morning: Sama waxtaan bi Talaata la ci suba bi, ci fukk i waxtu. (My meeting is on Tuesday morning at ten o'clock)
- añÚ - midday: Lane nga bëgg añÚ tay ? (What do you want to eat at midday today?)
- beccëk - afternoon: Fukk xarit démoon na nu demb ci beccëk ca palé ba (Ten friends went to the palace yesterday afternoon)
- ngoon - late afternoon: Dina am taw bu mag ci ngoon. (There will be a heavy rain in the late afternoon)
- guddi - evening: Ci fukk waxtu guddi. (At ten o'clock in the evening)
The word suba also appears with the meaning âtomorrowâ in our recordings, for example in ĂĂ«w ci jĂ mm suba ! (Come back in peace tomorrow!). Both meanings are present.
Days of the week and time markers
Five days of the week appear in our recordings:
- Talaata - Tuesday
- allarba - Wednesday
- Alxames - Thursday
- Ăjjuma - Friday
- Gaawu / gaawu - Saturday (two spellings in our recordings)
To ask or state the day:
- bane bis la nu nekk tay ? - What day is it today?
- tay mooy allarba. - Today is Wednesday.
- Tay Ăjjuma la. - Today is Friday.
- Demb Alxames la woon. - Yesterday was Thursday.
- Suba moy Gaawu. - Tomorrow will be Saturday.
The three time markers tay (today), demb (yesterday) and suba (tomorrow) appear across many of our recorded phrases.
A mini-dialogue built from recorded phrases
These two phrases answer each other and deal with the time of a meeting:
- A: Jereejef. Kañ la reunion bi ? - Thank you. What time is the meeting?
- B: Ci fukk waxtu. Waayé waxtu Sénégal la, xam nga ! - At ten o'clock. But that's Senegalese time, you know!
Frequently asked questions
How do you ask âwhat timeâ in Wolof?
Our recordings give Kañ la reunion bi ? (What time is the meeting?) and Kañ lay tambali ? (What time does it start?) to ask for the time of an event.
Which days of the week appear in the recordings?
Five days: Talaata (Tuesday), allarba (Wednesday), Alxames (Thursday), Ăjjuma (Friday) and Gaawu / gaawu (Saturday).
Does âsubaâ mean âmorningâ or âtomorrowâ?
Our recordings show both meanings. In Sama waxtaan bi Talaata la ci suba bi, ci fukk i waxtu., âci suba biâ corresponds to âmorning.â In Suba moy Gaawu., suba corresponds to âtomorrow.â
How do you say ânine thirtyâ in Wolof?
The recorded phrase is Juroom-ñeent waxtu ak genn-wall. (Nine thirty.)
