LEARN TO TALK ABOUT TIME AND ASK THE TIME IN ENGLISH (REQUIRES REAL

PLAYER).

WRITIN
G TIME
ON THE T I
H H D
PAST / PREPOSITIO WHAT WORK
O E I
NS
U T O
R I M
M S
E

TIME (1)

When it's "on the hour" we say "o'clock". But only when it's on the hour.

Twelve o'clock Six o'clock

One o'clock Seven o'clock

Two o'clock Eight o'clock

Three o'clock Nine o'clock

Four o'clock Ten o'clock

 Five o'clock Eleven o'clock

Because it can be difficult to say whether 12 o'clock is during the day or the night, we
use two special terms.

00:00 and 24:00 = Twelve 12:00 = Twelve

midnight (or midnight) noon (or noon)

TIME (2)
In five minute increments, when it's past the hour (up to 30 minutes past) we say "past".

When it's before the hour (after 30 minutes past) we say "to".

There are 60 minutes in an hour.

30 minutes is half an hour, we say "half past" or "thirty".

15 minutes is quarter of an hour, we say "quarter past" or "fifteen" or "quarter to" or "forty-five".

Twelve fifteen

Twelve o'clock or

Quarter past twelve

 Twelve thirty
Twelve forty-five
or
or
Half past twelve
Quarter to one
We never say "half to".

At other "odd" times, when we want to be accurate, we add the word

"minute(s)":-

It's one
It's twenty-eight minutes
minute past
to twelve.
three.

If you want to avoid trying to remember when to use "minutes" and

when not to just say "nearly" or "just turned".

It's just turned half past It's nearly

eleven. three o'clock.

PREPOSITIONS USED WITH TIME

At a In a
point in length
time of time
"It's
"When 12.45, "I'll see
shall "Let's when you in an
we meet at 12.30." will hour, at about
meet? you be 1.45."
ready?
NATURALLY SPEAKING
DIGITAL CLOCKS OFTEN SHOW THE TIME THIS WAY USING THE 24-HOUR-CLOCK,
ONLY THE POLICE AND THE MILITARY ACTUALLY SPEAK USING THE 24
HOUR CLOCK:-

If it's before noon we tend If it's after noon we say If it's late we say "at
to say "in the morning". "in the afternoon". night".
07:00 14:00 22:00
 It's seven o'clock in the It's two o'clock in the
It's ten o'clock at night
morning. afternoon.
15 minutes past the hour is
quarter past:
07:15 14:15 22:15
It's quarter past seven in the It's quarter past two in the It's quarter past ten at
morning. afternoon. night.
30 minutes past the hour is
half past:
07:30 14:30
22:30
It's half past seven in the It's half past two in the
It's half past ten at night.
morning. afternoon.
45 minutes past the hour is
quarter to:
07:45 14:45 22:45
It's quarter to eight in the It's quarter to three in the It's quarter to eleven at
morning. afternoon. night.

HOW TO ASK THE TIME IN ENGLISH.

It's exactly eight o'clock.

o Excuse me. What or

time is it, please? It's eight.

It's half past twelve.

o Excuse me. Do you

have the time, or
please? It's twelve thirty.

It's about half past eleven.

o Excuse me. Could
you tell me the
time, please? or
It's around eleven thirty.

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.

Check these time idioms too.

WRITING THE TIME

00:01 -
morning
11:59
a.m. - stands for Ante Meridiem (the time 00:01 hrs -
between midnight and noon) 12:00
noon or midday 12:00
12:01 -
p.m. - stands for Post Meridian (after noon)
24:00 hrs
12:01 -
afternoon
18:00
18:01 -
evening
22:00
22:01 -
night
24:00
24:00 /
midnight
00:00
There are 24 hours in a day, but only the military, police and computer programmers use the 24-hour clock. When writing or speaking generally
we tend to use the 12-hour clock. The 24 hours of the day are divided into two periods called a.m. (Latin "ante meridiem" | English: "before mid
day") and p.m. (Latin "post meridiem" | English: "after mid day").

The way people write the time varies. I prefer a.m. and p.m.

Choose from the following styles or use what your English teacher tells you to and stick to it:-

a.m. p.m.
am pm
AM PM
A.M. P.M.
Some people (myself included) use a dot as the separator: 2.30 pm.

Some people use a colon as the separator: 2:30 pm. The colon is usually used with the 24-hour clock: 14:30.

When you are writing the time decide whether to write it using numerals or words, and stick to that.

- See more at: http://www.learnenglish.de/basics/time.html#sthash.b6JhXu2d.dpuf