Add Seconds to a Time Value in SQLite

In SQLite, we can use the TIME() function to add a given number of seconds to a time value.

If we’re dealing with datetime values, we can use the DATETIME() function.

Example

Here’s an example that uses the TIME() function:

SELECT TIME('22:50:10', '+1 second');

Result:

22:50:11

We can subtract the amount by replacing + with -.

Omitting + results in the amount being added, as if we’d used +:

SELECT TIME('22:50:10', '1 second');

Result:

22:50:11

We can specify the seconds in plural or non-plural form. In other words, second is equivalent to seconds:

SELECT 
    TIME('22:50:10', '20 second') AS second,
    TIME('22:50:10', '20 seconds') AS seconds;

Result:

second    seconds 
--------  --------
22:50:30  22:50:30

This example uses the DATETIME() function to add fifteen seconds to a datetime value:

SELECT DATETIME('2050-08-21', '+15 seconds');

Result:

2050-08-21 00:00:15

In this case, I passed a date value and the function returned a datetime value with the number of seconds being added to 00:00:00.

Here’s an example with a datetime value being passed:

SELECT DATETIME('2050-08-21 23:59:59', '+47 seconds');

Result:

2050-08-22 00:00:46

In this case, the number of seconds being added was enough to push the date over to the next day.