geçiyor, var, geçe or kala?

After the minutes comes one of four words. Which one you need depends on whether you say what time it is or when something happens.

• geçiyor (it is ... past) and var (it is ... to) end the sentence: Saat dokuzu yirmi geçiyor. (It's twenty past nine.) Saat ikiye beş var. (It's five to two.)
• geçe (at ... past) and kala (at ... to) are followed by a verb: Otobüs saat yediyi on geçe kalkıyor. (The bus leaves at ten past seven.)
• buçuk means half past: Saat dört buçuk. (It's half past four.) For 'at half past' say buçukta: Ders on buçukta başlıyor. (The lesson starts at half past ten.)

The hour case shows the direction: accusative (dokuzu) goes with geçiyor / geçe, dative (ikiye) with var / kala.