So it is important to know the time we are passing and being able to express it to the others.
In this lesson, we will study and exercise telling the time in English.
There are two common ways of telling the time:
1) Say the hour first and then the minetues. (Hour + Minutes)
- 6:25 - It's six twenty-five.
- 8:05 - It's eight O-five. (the O is said like the letter O)
- 10:11 - It's ten eleven.
- 2:34 - It's two thirty-for.
2) Say the minutes first and then the hour. (Minutes + PAST / TO + Hour)
For minutes between 1-30, we use PAST after the minutes.
For minutes between 31-59, we use TO after the minutes.
- 2:35 - It's twenty-five to three.
- 11:20 - It's twenty past eleven.
- 4:18 - It's eighteen past four.
- 9:51 - It's nine to ten.
- 2:59 - It's one to three.
When it is 15 minutes past the hour we normally say: (a) quarter past
- 7:15 - It's (a) quarter past seven.
When it is 15 minutes before the hour we normally say: (a) quarter to
- 12:45 - It's (a) quarter to one.
When it is 30 minutes past the hour we normally say: half past
- 4:30 - It's half past four. (and we can also say four-thirty)
O'clock
We use o'clock when the hand of hour hits the exact hour and there are no minutes:
- 10:00 - It's ten o'clock.
- 5:00 - It's five o'clock.
- 2:00 - It's two o'clock.
We can also split the day time regarding o'clock in following order:
- Morning - between 6:00 to 12:00
- Noon / Midday - 12:00
- Afternoon - between 12:00 to 18:00
- Evening / Sunset - between 18:00 to 24:00
- Midnight - 24:00
- Night / Dusk - between 24:00 to 6:00
- Dawn / Sunrise - 6:00
Now we have that covered up, it is also important to know that there is no 24-hour-system in English.
We sometimes see that used on TV and in timetables.
But, 15:00 actually means 3 o'clock (p.m.) for us.
That's why we use a.m. (in Latin: ante meridiem) and p.m. (post meridiem) in situations where it is necessary to point out that we want to say in the morning or in the evening.
o'clock (abbreviation: of the clock) only on the hour
| Germany | England |
|---|---|
| 00:00 | midnight |
| 00:01 | 12:01 am |
| 08:00 | 8:00 am |
| 12:00 | noon |
| 12:01 | 12:01 pm |
| 14:00 | 2 pm |
| 18:00 | 6 pm |
| 23:59 | 11:59 pm |
Last but not least:
Asking for the Time
The common question forms we use to ask for the time right now are:
- What time is it?
- What is the time?
The common question forms we use to ask at what time a specific event will happen are:
- What time...? / When...?
- What time does the flight to New York leave:
- When does the bus arrive from London?
- When does the concert begin?
Giving the Time
We use "it is" or "it's" to respond to the questions that ask for the time right now.
- It is hafl past six. (6:30)
- It's ten to twelve. (11:50)
We use the structure AT + TIME when giving the time of a specific event.
- The bus arrives at midday. (12:00)
- The flight leaves at a quarter to two. (1:45)
- The concert begins at ten o'clock / 10 p.m.. (10:00)
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