Telling the Time

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

The 12-hour system divides the 24 hours of a day into two periods lasting 12 hours each. The first 12-hour period is designated as am. It runs from midnight to noon. The second period, marked pm, covers the 12 hours from noon to midnight.

The abbreviations am and pm derive from Latin:

§  AM = Ante meridiem: Before noon

§  PM = Post meridiem: After noon