{"id":1200,"date":"2023-06-14T21:33:31","date_gmt":"2023-06-14T13:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/airy.cn\/WordPress\/?p=1200"},"modified":"2023-06-14T21:33:31","modified_gmt":"2023-06-14T13:33:31","slug":"5-simple-rules-for-telling-time-in-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/airy.cn\/WordPress\/?p=1200","title":{"rendered":"5 Simple Rules for Telling Time in English"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hello, Friends!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Telling time in English can be confusing. I\u2019m happy to help! There are a few rules to remember, please:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#1. Telling Time in English: Using \u2018Past\u2019 or \u2018To\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As we know, there are 60 minutes in an hour. With minutes 1 \u2013 29, we say it\u2019s past<\/strong> (or after<\/strong>) the hour. For example, \u201cIt\u2019s ten past<\/strong> three\u201d, or 3:10. Or another example, \u201cIt\u2019s twenty after<\/strong> eight\u201d, or 8:20. With minutes 31 \u2013 59, we say to<\/strong> (the next hour). For example, when it\u2019s 10:40, we say \u201cIt\u2019s twenty to<\/strong> eleven\u201d (Eleven minus twenty minutes). Or when it\u2019s 3:50, we say \u201cIt\u2019s ten to<\/strong> four\u201d (Four minus ten minutes). Remember, it\u2019s always correct to say \u201cIt\u2019s 3:50\u201d. But many times, you will hear people say \u201cIt\u2019s ten to<\/strong> four\u201d. English learners should be aware of that. And they should be comfortable using \u201cpast<\/strong>, after<\/strong>, and to<\/strong>\u201d to express time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"telling<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

#2. When to Use \u2018a Quarter\u2019 and \u2018a Half\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Like we said, there are 60 minutes in an hour. We divide our time in quarters and halves. It\u2019s confusing at first, but it does make expressing time easier. At minute 15, we say it\u2019s \u201cquarter past<\/strong>\u201d. Or we say, it\u2019s \u201cquarter after<\/strong>\u201d. Both \u201cquarter past<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cquarter after<\/strong>\u201d are equally correct. So, when it\u2019s 7:15, we say it\u2019s \u201cquarter past<\/strong> seven\u201d. Or when it\u2019s 1:15, we say it\u2019s \u201cquarter after <\/strong>one\u201d. At minute 45, we say it\u2019s \u201cquarter to<\/strong>\u201d the next hour. For example, at 5:45, we say it\u2019s \u201cquarter to <\/strong>six\u201d (or 15 minutes before 6:00). At minute 30, we say it\u2019s \u201chalf past<\/strong>\u201d. So at 9:30, we would say it\u2019s \u201chalf past<\/strong> nine\u201d (or half an hour after 9:00). Again, please remember that it\u2019s okay to say \u201cIt\u2019s 7:15\u201d. Or \u201cIt\u2019s 5:45\u201d. But you will definitely hear people say \u201cIt\u2019s quarter after<\/strong> seven\u201d. Or \u201cIt\u2019s a quarter to<\/strong> six\u201d. So I encourage you to get comfortable and confident expressing time in quarters and halves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"how<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

#3. A.M or P.M: What Time is it?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

As we all know, there are 24 hours in a day. Hours 1 through 11 are pretty simple. In the 9th hour, we just say \u201cIt\u2019s 9:00\u201d. But hours 12 to 24 might be a little different than what other cultures are accustomed to. For hours 0 through 12, we call this \u201cA.M.<\/strong>\u201d. So for hour 7 (in the morning), we say \u201cIt\u2019s seven A.M.<\/strong>\u201d (7:00 A.M.). For hours 12 to 24, we call this \u201cP.M.<\/strong>\u201d. So for example, at hour 14, we say \u201cIt\u2019s two P.M<\/strong>.\u201d Again, there are cultural differences that might make \u201cA.M<\/strong>.\u201d and \u201cP.M<\/strong>.\u201d a little confusing. For example, my Brasilian students told me that at the 17th hour, they say \u201cIt\u2019s seventeen hundred.\u201d We just say \u201cIt\u2019s five P.M<\/strong>.\u201d (5:00 P.M.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A.M<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

*** It\u2019s <\/em>NOT<\/em><\/strong> important to know this. But \u201cA.M.\u201d stands for \u201cAnte Meridiem\u201d (Latin). And \u201cP.M.\u201d stands for \u201cPost Meridiem\u201d (also Latin).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

#4. Noon. Midday. Midnight<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

At hour 12, we say it\u2019s \u201cnoon<\/strong>\u201d. You also sometimes hear people say \u201cmidday<\/strong>\u201d. At hour 24, we say it\u2019s \u201cmidnight<\/strong>\u201d. \u201cNoon<\/strong>\u201d is 12:00 P.M. And \u201cmidnight<\/strong>\u201d is 12:00 A.M. (The start of a new day or 24 hour cycle.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"midday<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

#5. When to Use O\u2019clock<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

At the beginning of each hour, we use the term \u201co\u2019clock<\/strong>\u201d. For example, \u201cIt\u2019s one o\u2019clock<\/strong>\u201d (1:00). Or \u201cIt\u2019s four o\u2019clock<\/strong>\u201d (4:00). A common mistake that I have noticed with English learners is that they will use the term \u201co\u2019clock<\/strong>\u201d at the wrong time. For example, we do NOT<\/strong> say \u201cIt\u2019s six-thirty o\u2019clock\u201d (6:30). And we do NOT <\/strong>say \u201cIt\u2019s eleven-fifteen o\u2019clock\u201d (11:15). We only say \u201co\u2019clock<\/strong>\u201d at the exact hour. For example, \u201cIt\u2019s four o\u2019clock<\/strong>\u201d (4:00). Or \u201cIt\u2019s eight o\u2019clock<\/strong>\u201d (8:00).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"tell<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello, Friends! Telling time in English can be confusin … \u9605\u8bfb\u66f4\u591a<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-airy-tech"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/airy.cn\/WordPress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/airy.cn\/WordPress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/airy.cn\/WordPress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airy.cn\/WordPress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airy.cn\/WordPress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1200"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/airy.cn\/WordPress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1201,"href":"https:\/\/airy.cn\/WordPress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1200\/revisions\/1201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/airy.cn\/WordPress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airy.cn\/WordPress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airy.cn\/WordPress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}