Telling time in English
Am
Pm
Noon 12 pm
Midnight 12 am
30’ half (half an hour)
15’ – quarter
It’s ….o’clock
30’ half – half past
4:30 ----- half past four
5:30 ----- half past five
Up to half an hour we say… past:
4:20 – twenty PAST 4
4:10 – ten PAST 4
After half an hour (30’) we say TO (do)
4:35 – 25 to 5
9:40 – 20 to 10
10: 50 – 10 to 11
15’ – QUARTER (past/ to)
4:15 – quarter PAST four
4:45 – quarter TO five
There are two common ways of telling the time.
1) Say the hour first and then the minutes. (Hour +
Minutes)
6:25 - It's six twenty-five
8:05 - It's eight O-five (the O is said like the letter
O)
9:11 - It's nine eleven
2:34 - It's two thirty-four
2) Say the minutes first and then the hour.
(Minutes + PAST / TO + Hour)
For minutes 1-30 we use PAST after the minutes.
For minutes 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
8:51 - It's nine to nine
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
3:30 - It's half past three (but we can also say
three-thirty)
O'clock
We use o'clock when there are NO minutes.
10:00 - It's ten o'clock
5:00 - It's five o'clock
1:00 - It's one o'clock
Sometimes it is written as 9 o'clock (the number +
o'clock)
12:00
For 12:00 there are four expressions in English.
twelve o'clock
midday = noon
midnight
Telling the time video
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?
A more polite way to ask for the time, especially
from a stranger is:
Could you tell me the time please?
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 half past five (5:30).
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. (10:00)
We can also use subject pronouns in these
responses.
It arrives at midday (12:00).
It leaves at a quarter to two (1:45).
It begins at ten o'clock. (10:00)
AM vs. PM
We don't normally use the 24-hour clock in
English.
We use a.m. (am) for the morning and p.m. (pm)
for the afternoon and night.
3am = Three o'clock in the morning.
3pm = Three o'clock in the afternoon.
Next Activity
Try our interactive games to practice telling the
time at: Telling the Time 1 and Telling the Time 2.
Check out our grammar notes about using
prepositions of time.
