time will tell

English

Alternative forms

• only time will tell
• time alone will tell

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Phrase

time will tell

1. (idiomatic) Events and outcomes cannot be known beforehand.

   This may not be a good idea, but time will tell.

   • 2011 January 11, Jonathan Stevenson, “West Ham 2 - 1 Birmingham”, in BBC‎^[1]:

     That was harsh on the former Manchester United keeper after a performance which kept his team in the tie at times. But Grant, so often starved of luck himself, will feel both he and his side were worthy of the good fortune. Only time will tell whether it will be enough.

Translations

results of an action cannot be known beforehand

• Arabic: الْوَقْت سَيَقُولُ m (al-waqt sayaqūlu)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Bashkir: күҙ күрер (küź kürer)
• Basque: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: el temps ho dirà
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 時間會證明一切／时间会证明一切 (shíjiān huì zhèngmíng yīqiè)

• Dutch: de tijd zal het leren, de tijd zal 't leren
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: aika näyttää, sen näkee sitten
• French: l’avenir le dira, qui vivra, verra, l’avenir nous le dira
• Galician: o tempo dirá
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: das wird sich weisen, das wird sich zeigen, die Zeit wird es zeigen, die Zukunft wird es zeigen, das steht in den Sternen
• Greek: ο χρόνος θα δείξει (o chrónos tha deíxei)
• Hebrew: ימים יגידו (yamím yagídu)
• Hungarian: majd kiderül, majd meglátjuk, majd elválik
• Italian: chi vivrà vedrà, il tempo lo dirà, se son rose fioriranno
• Japanese: 時間がたてば分かる (jikan-ga tateba wakaru)
• Khmer: ពេលវេលានឹងប្រាប់ (peil veiliə nɨng prap)
• Korean: 시간이 말해 (sigani malhae)
• Lithuanian: laikas parodys
• Low German:

  German Low German: Tiet will dat wiesen, de Tiet schall dat wiesen

• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norman: la fîn du temps f'tha tout vaie
• Polish: czas pokaże (literally time will show)
• Portuguese: o tempo dirá
• Romanian: timpul va decide
• Russian: поживём — увидим (poživjóm — uvidim) (we'll live and see), вре́мя покажет (ru) (vrémja pokažet)
• Spanish: el tiempo dirá
• Swedish: tiden får utvisa (sv), den som lever får se
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can

See also

• the proof of the pudding is in the eating