Grammar: Telling time

 A.M. or P.M?
What’s the difference between A.M and P.M? In the USA, Americans use the 12-hour
system. The abbreviations A.M and P.M will help you know if it is 5.a.m in the morning
or 5 p.m in the afternoon.
 AM = Ante meridiem: Before noon
 PM = Post meridiem: After noon
Do you need to use a.m and p.m all the time?
It depends. If it is not possible to know by the context if it is a.m. or p.m, then you
REALLY need to say it. When you are having a conversation and someone asks you
about the time, you don’t really need to say a.m or p.m, because the person already
knows that part. If you are talking about an appointment, for example, it is better to say
a.m or p.m

 O’CLOCK
This is an expression we use to specify the hour in telling time. So, for example, what
time is it? It is 3:00 O’clock. It’s 4 o’clock. It is exactly the hour 3 or 4. If it were 4:03,
you canNOT use o’clock anymore.

 BASIC WAY TO TELL THE TIME

Now, let’s talk about a very basic way to tell the time. Say the number for the hour and
then the number for the minute. Look at the following picture

1:45 it’s one (the hour) forty-five (the minute). If necessary, include
the a.m and p.m

8:15 – it’s eight (the hour) fifteen (the minute). If necessary, include
the a.m and p.m
 1:35– it’s one (the hour) thirty-five (the minute). If necessary,
include the a.m and p.m.
You can tell the time this way with all the possible minutes.
1:05 – one five
1:10 one ten
1:15 one fifteen
1:20 one twenty
1:30 one thirty
1:40: one forty
1:55 one fifty-five
If you look at the picture above, the clock is divided into two parts. The first half is from
0 to 30 minutes. The second half is from 31 minutes to 59 minutes. You can tell the time
differently depending on the number of minutes. Look at the examples below:
1:15 – you can say One Fifteen OR a quarter past/after one. In this case, I inverted the
position. First I say the minutes and then the hour. You cannot say “fifteen” in this
second option, only in the first one.
Past or after? In the USA, it is more common to use after. However, in British English,
it is more common to say past.
1:20: you can say one twenty OR Twenty PAST/AFTET One.
1:30: you can say One Thirty OR HALF PAST one. Please observe that in this case, you
canNOT use “after”. Only “PAST”. you cannot say “thirty” in this second option, only in
the first one.
 1:35> here it is the second part of the clock. Now, to tell the time, speak the number of
minutes TO the next HOUR. SO, it is twenty-five TO two. It is twenty-five minutes to the
next hour, two. You can also say one thirty-five.
1:40 – you can say it is twenty TO two or one forty.
1:45 – you can say it is one forty-five OR it is A QUARTER TO two. Here, you canNOT
use “fifteen” either, because it is not common.
12:00 A.M or P.M?
How do you say that in English? Can you just say the number twelve? Yes, that’s
possible. But here are other ways to say it!
12:00 a.m – midnight
12:00 p.m – midday, twelve p.m or noon!

 Exercises:
1. 12:00 a.m ____________
2. 1:45 p.m ____________
3. 3:00 a.m ____________
4. 5:55 a.m ____________
5. 4:10 p.m ____________
6. 7:25 p.m ____________
7. 8:15: a.m ____________
8. 9:40 p.m ____________
9. 12:00 p.m ____________
10. 10:00 a.m ____________
 Describe a friend of yours
1. Intro
 The friend that I would like to tell you today is …..
 The person that I considered my best friend is …….
 When it comes to my closest friend, off the top of my head, I would say it’s….

2. How you met him or her

 We go way back ( We know each other for a long time)
 I’ve known him/ her for ….. years or I’ve known him/her since …..: tôi đã biết
anh ấy/ cô ấy được …năm hoặc tôi quen biết anh ấy/ cô ấy từ …
 To this day, I still remember vividly the first time we met was in …….: cho đến
bây giờ, tôi vẫn nhớ rõ lần đầu tiên chúng tôi gặp nhau là …..

3. What is your first impression toward him or her

 When I first met ..., I was very impressed by his/her appearance/ voice/ style.
 My first impression .... was that …

4. Age
 ... is the same age with me.
 ... is + number + years younger/ older than me.
 ... is in her teenage years.
 ... is in his /her + early/ mid/ late + twenties/ thirties/ forties ….
 ... is ….. years old but he/she is still very young at heart.

5. Appearance

Height – tall
– of medium height
– short
– much/ a little bit taller/ shorter than me
Body – slim
– chubby
– well-built
– thin
– skinny

Hair – straight hair

– curly hair
– wavy hair
– blonde hair
– dyed hair

Complexion – has dark/ fair complexion/skin

– tanned skin

6. Personality traits
Some common personality traits:
absent-minded generous
ambitious hard-working
approachable = friendly honest
creative humorous
open-minded shy
reliable = trustworthy sociable
reserved talkative
responsible thoughtful
self- confident

Sample:
I would like to describe my best friend, Huong, whom I have known for roughly 10
years. I first met her at primary school when she was my classmate. At first, she
was quite shy and did not want to talk with anyone, which made me feel that she was a
bit proud. However, when we became close friends, she was more sociable and
amiable. We have done a lot of things together. Studying at the same schools, we have
various mutual friends. So, we usually throw parties at the weekends or have a
picnic together.
Besides, whenever I get into trouble, I turn to her for help. For example,
I remember when I got bad marks in the mock university entrance exam,
she consoled me and then we studied together until the official exam took
place. Finally, we had the opportunity to study at our favorite college.
At present, despite the fact that we have different plans and goals to pursue, I believe
that we will be best friends for good and we will try our best to maintain this
relationship.

The end of the lesson