Zeit, Mal or Uhr?
a2English „time“ covers three German words: Zeit is time as a quantity and cannot be counted, Mal counts how often something happens, Uhr is the device and the clock time.
Zeit
Time as duration or supply, uncountable: keine Zeit haben, sich Zeit nehmen, mit der Zeit.
Ich habe heute keine Zeit.I don't have time today.
Mal
A single occurrence, countable: einmal, dreimal, das erste Mal, jedes Mal, manchmal.
Ich war schon dreimal in Wien.I've been to Vienna three times.
Uhr
The device on the wall or your wrist, and the clock time itself: um acht Uhr. You ask with „Wie spät ist es?“.
Meine Uhr geht vor.My watch is fast.
The mistake
Ich war schon drei Zeiten in Wien.
Ich war schon dreimal in Wien.
How often something happens is counted with „Mal“. „Zeit“ cannot be counted in this sense at all.
Rule of thumb
Countable? Then Mal. A clock or a clock time? Then Uhr. Everything else is Zeit.
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