Definite NPs with an appropriate head noun can be used to identify a specific point in time or a timespan, which can be used as temporal adverbial. For timespans, a modifier such as hele whole/entire indicating the extent of the time span is typical, whereas for points in time, relational modifiers like volgende next and vorige previous are common. The options are illustrated by the examples in (2).

Indefinite NPs are used to identify the timespan mainly, and can either use units of time such as uur hour or dag day, or else informal ways of chunking time, like oomblik moment. The indefinite NPs expressing timespan are usually interchangeable with a preposition phrase headed by vir for with the NP as PP-complement, or else an AP headed by lank long, where the NP is a premodifier of the head AP. Ponelis(1979:341) is of the view that NPs denoting timespan can be analysed as reduced variants of the AP with lank.

Similar to definite and indefinite NPs with temporal meaning, a quantifier expression can be combined with a head noun that refers to conventional unit for measurement of duration, which is quantified by premodifier. Quantified NPs can be used for intervals, such as drie uur three hours, vyf jaar five years, or drie weke three weeks, but also for the expression of frequency, such as drie aande three evenings, or elke tweede maand every second month. Quantified noun phrases have similar distributions to definite and indefinite NPs when used as temporal adverbials, as shown in example (4).

The names of days (Maandag Monday, Dinsdag Tuesday), months (Januarie January, Februarie February), or seasons (lente spring, somer summer), as well as names denoting unique days (typically public holidays or religious festivals) like Kersdag Christmas Day, Nasionale Braaidag National Braai Day, or Hemelvaart Day of Ascension can be used to denote a point in time (days in particular), or a timespan. These names can be modified or quantified in noun phrases to make the reference more precise, e.g. die hele somer the whole summer, (die) volgende Maandag (the) next Monday, begin November beginning of November. Their syntactic distribution is similar to all the other NPs that function as temporal adverbials.