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How to Say ‘Roughly how late would that be?’ in German

Wie spät wäre das denn ungefähr?

vee shpayt VAIR-eh dahs OON-geh-fair

[vee shpayt VAIR-eh dahs OON-geh-fair]

Phrase Breakdown

Wie spät wäre das

vee shpayt VAIR-eh dahs

How late would that be

'Wie spät' means 'how late / what time'. 'Wäre' is the polite subjunctive of 'sein'. Say 'sp' as 'shp' and 'ä' like the 'e' in 'bed'.

Example

Wie spät wäre das am Samstag?

How late would that be on Saturday?

Words in this phrase

Wie

[vee]

how

Question word meaning "how".

Example

Wie heißt du?

What is your name?

spät

[shpayt]

late

Adjective/adverb about time; 'wie spät' asks what time.

Example

Wie spät ist es?

What time is it?

wäre

[VAIR-eh]

would be

Subjunctive of 'sein'; polite or hypothetical 'would be'.

Example

Das wäre super.

That would be great.

das

[dahs]

that / it

'Das' can mean 'that' or 'it', depending on context.

Example

Das macht Spaß beim WM-Schauen.

That is fun when watching the World Cup.

denn ungefähr?

OON-geh-fair

roughly, then?

'Denn' is a softening particle in questions. 'Ungefähr' means 'approximately' and is stressed on the last syllable: un-ge-FÄHR.

Example

Wie lange dauert das denn ungefähr?

Roughly how long does that take, then?

Words in this phrase

denn

ungefähr

[OON-geh-fair]

approximately

Used to give a rough estimate.

Example

Es kostet ungefähr hundert Euro.

It costs approximately a hundred euros.

Guides for German learners

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