Time and dates in Bengali
আজ, কাল, পরশু — weekdays, clock time, and the two-sided কাল.
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Anchor yourself with five words: আজ (aaj — today), কাল (kal — yesterday/tomorrow), পরশু (porshu — day after tomorrow), এখন (ekhon — now), পরে (pore — later). Five words cover ninety percent of daily planning — কাল আসুন (come tomorrow) and পরে কথা হবে (we'll talk later) will carry you through weeks of real life.
The week runs রবিবার (robibar — Sunday), সোমবার (shombar — Monday), মঙ্গলবার (mongolbar — Tuesday), বুধবার (budhbar — Wednesday), বৃহস্পতিবার (brihoshpotibar — Thursday), শুক্রবার (shukrobar — Friday), শনিবার (shonibar — Saturday). Thursday's name is the week's heavyweight — practise brihoshpotibar slowly and the rest of the week feels easy.
Clock time is beautifully simple: number plus টা. একটা (one o'clock), দুটো (two o'clock — note the change!), তিনটে (three o'clock), চারটে, পাঁচটা. এখন কটা বাজে? (ekhon kota baje — what time is it now?) is the question; the answer is just the number with its টা. Two and three bend the rule (দুটো, তিনটে) — learn those two exceptions and the clock is yours.
Parts of the day paint every plan: সকাল (shokal — morning), দুপুর (dupur — midday), বিকেল (bikel — afternoon), সন্ধ্যা (shondha — evening), রাত (raat — night). সকালে (in the morning) and রাতে (at night) add one small -এ sound — সকালে যাব (I'll go in the morning) — and suddenly your sentences have schedules.
Words and phrases for this topic
| English | Bengali | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| Today | আজ | aaj |
| Yesterday / tomorrow | কাল | kal |
| Day after tomorrow | পরশু | porshu |
| Now | এখন | ekhon |
| Later | পরে | pore |
| What time is it? | এখন কটা বাজে? | ekhon kota baje |
| Morning | সকাল | shokal |
| Afternoon | বিকেল | bikel |
| Night | রাত | raat |
| Monday | সোমবার | shombar |
| Friday | শুক্রবার | shukrobar |
| Half past three | সাড়ে তিনটে | sare tinte |
| Come tomorrow (polite) | কাল আসুন | kal ashun |
Language, culture, and common traps
Practice: recall, then use
Use this quick recall drill for Time and dates. Hide the script and romanisation columns; say the Bengali form for each cue before revealing its row, then check spelling and sound. The phrase-table speaker buttons provide a model when a matching browser voice is available.
- Today
- Morning
- Come tomorrow (polite)
Context check. For Time and dates, “Come tomorrow (polite)” belongs to a particular setting. A common mistake is to treat an English gloss as universal; read the language-specific note above and ask a fluent speaker when local usage differs.
Check your recall: answer key
- আজ aaj — Today
- সকাল shokal — Morning
- কাল আসুন kal ashun — Come tomorrow (polite)
Questions learners ask
Yes — কাল means yesterday looking back and tomorrow looking forward; tense and context choose. Learners panic, natives never notice: গতকাল (gotokal — yesterday) and আগামীকাল (agamikal — tomorrow) exist for the rare moments when it truly matters.
Take the number, add টা: তিনটে (three o'clock), পাঁচটা (five o'clock). Half past adds সাড়ে (sare) — সাড়ে তিনটে is half past three. Bengali clock time is one small rule with an enormous payoff.
রবিবার (Sunday) first, then সোমবার through শনিবার. Six of the seven end in -বার (bar — day), so learn রবি, সোম, মঙ্গল, বুধ, বৃহস্পতি, শুক্র, শনি and the week assembles itself.