What's the Time in English?

Explanation
There are two common ways of telling the time.
Formal but easier way
Say the hours first and then the minutes.

Example: 7:45 - seven forty-five

For minutes 01 through 09, you can pronounce the '0' as oh.

Example: 11:06 - eleven (oh) six

More popular way

Say the minutes first and then the hours. Use past and the preceding
hour for minutes 01 through 30. Use to and the forthcoming hour for
minutes 31 through 59, but.

Example: 7.15 - fifteen minutes past seven

Example: 7.45 - fifteen minutes to eight

Another possibility of saying '15 minutes past' is: a quarter past

Another possibility of saying '15 minutes to' is: a quarter to

Another possibility of saying '30 minutes past' is: half past

Example: 5:30 - half past five

Watch

Note
Use o'clock only at the full hour.

Example: 7:00 - seven o'clock (but 7:10 - ten past seven)

In English ordinary speech, the twelve-hour clock is used.

Beispiel: 17:20 - twenty past five

For times around midnight or midday you can use

expressions midnight or midday / noon instead of the number 12.

Beispiel: 00:00 - midnight

Beispiel: 12:00 - midday or noon

the

To make clear (where necessary) whether you mean a time before 12

o'clock noon or after, you can use in the morning, in the afternoon, in the

evening, at night. Use in the morning before 12 o'clock noon, after 12

o'clock
noon
use in
the
afternoon.
When
to
change
from afternoon to evening,
from eveningto night and
from night to morning depends on your sense of time.

Example: 3:15 - a quarter past three in the morning OR a quarter

past three at night.

More formal expressions to indicate whether a time is before noon or

after are a.m. (also: am - ante meridiem, before noon) and p.m. (also:
pm - post meridiem, after noon). Use these expression only with the
formal way of telling the time.

Example: 3:15 - three fifteen a.m.

It is not usual to use a.m. and p.m. with past/to.

Example: 3:15 - fifteen minutes past three OR a quarter past three

American English
Beside past Americans often use after.

Example: 06:10 - ten past/after six

But: in time expressions

replace past by after.

with half

past it

is

not

usual

to

Beside to Americans often use before, of or till.

Example: 05:50 - ten to/before/of/till six

Asking for the Time

The common question forms we use to ask for the time right now are:
What time is it? or 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 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.
Naturally speaking

Work time
There are some common words and phrases that we use to describe the
hours we work.
At work in the UK we talk about starting time and leaving time.
9-to-5 is a phrase used to describe a conventional and possibly tedious
job. Negatively used, it connotes a tedious or unremarkable occupation,
the idea being that, because the job is so boring, the workplace shuts
down outside of required hours. The phrase also indicates that a person
is an employee, usually in a large company, rather than self-employed.

More neutrally, it connotes a job with stable hours and low career risk,
but still a position of subordinate employment.

Overtime is the time we work in addition to what is normal. Overtime is

either paid, or unpaid.
Full time (full-time) is the term we use to describe the whole of
someone's available working time, typically 40 hours in a week, but the
European Union's working time directive imposes a 48 hour maximum
working week that applies to every member state except here in the
United

Kingdom

(which

has

an opt-out

meaning

that

UK-based

employees may work longer than 48 hours if they wish, but they cannot
be forced to do so).
Part time (part-time) is the term we use to describe employment with
fewer hours per week than a full-time job.
Time off is the term we use to describe time for rest or recreation away
from one's usual work or studies.
Time in lieu refers to taking time off instead of, or in addition to,
receiving pay for overtime worked or working on public or bank
holidays.
Prepositions used with time
How to ask the time in English.

Writing the time

Time
morning
a.m. - stands for Ante Meridiem (the time between
midnight and noon)
noon or midday

00:01 - 11:59
00:01 hrs 12:00
12:00

p.m. - stands for Post Meridian (after noon)

12:01 - 24:00
hrs

afternoon

12:01 - 18:00

evening

18:01 - 22:00

night

22:01 - 24:00

midnight

24:00 / 00:00

Prepositions of time.

AT - ON - IN - Prepositions of Time
English Grammar Rules

AT

We use AT with specific times (hour / minutes):

I get up at 7 o'clock.

My English class starts at 10am.

She finishes work at 6.15

I left the party at midnight.

Midnight (and midday) is a specific hour which is why we use AT.

12am = midnight
12pm = midday / noon
We use AT for a holiday period of two or more days:

Do you normally get together with your relatives at Christmas?

Did you eat a lot of chocolate at Easter?

ON

We use ON for specific days and dates:

I will return it to you on Wednesday.

They got married on Friday the 13th.

We get paid on the 20th of every month.

I drank too much on New Year's eve.

Remember that for dates, we use ordinal numbers.

E.g. the First of September (not the one of September)

IN

We use IN for specific months, years, seasons, centuries and lengths of

time.

My birthday is in January. (I don't mention the date, just the

month)

My
was

The river near my house is dry in Summer.

The company was founded in the 19th century.

We need to have this report ready in 15 minutes.

Compare:
The New Zealand National day is in February.
(I don't mention the day - only the month)
The New Zealand National day is on February 6th.
(I mention the day - the order is not important)

grandmother
born in 1927.

We
use
Prepositions
Remember! We do not use at, on, in or the with the following
expressions:

don't

Today, tomorrow, yesterday, this morning, tonight, last, next,

every.