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The Time

There are two common ways to tell time in English - saying the hour then minutes (e.g. "six twenty-five") or saying the minutes before/past the hour (e.g. "twenty-five to three"). Special terms are used for quarters of an hour and half past. Time is normally asked using "what time is it?" and responded with "it is/it's...". When asking about a specific event time, "what time" or "when" is used and the response uses "at" plus the time.

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55 views2 pages

The Time

There are two common ways to tell time in English - saying the hour then minutes (e.g. "six twenty-five") or saying the minutes before/past the hour (e.g. "twenty-five to three"). Special terms are used for quarters of an hour and half past. Time is normally asked using "what time is it?" and responded with "it is/it's...". When asking about a specific event time, "what time" or "when" is used and the response uses "at" plus the time.

Uploaded by

Antía López
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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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.
o 2:35 - It's twenty-five to three
o 11:20 - It's twenty past eleven
o 4:18 - It's eighteen past four
o 8:51 - It's nine to nine
o 2:59 - It's one to three
 When it is 15 minutes past the hour we normally say: (a) quarter past
o 7:15 - It's (a) quarter past seven
 When it is 15 minutes before the hour we normally say: a quarter to
o 12:45 - It's (a) quarter to one
 When it is 30 minutes past the hour we normally say: half past
o 3:30 - It's half past three (but we can also say three-thirty)

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)

For 12:00 there are four expressions in English.


 twelve o'clock
 midday = noon
 midnight
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...?
o What time does the flight to New York leave?
o When does the bus arrive from London?
o When does the concert begin?

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)

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.
 3 am = Three o'clock in the morning.
 3 pm = Three o'clock in the afternoon.

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