The document discusses how to tell time and various aspects of measuring time. It describes that time is measured in seconds, minutes and hours, with 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour. It provides details on analog and digital clocks/watches, and explains how to tell time to the hour, half hour, quarter hour and minute using terms like 'o'clock', 'past', 'to', and 'half past'. The document also covers writing time using a.m./p.m. notation and 12-hour versus 24-hour clocks.

1. Telling the Time
We measure the time in seconds, minutes and hours.
There are 24 hours in a day.
There are 60 minutes in an hour.
There are 60 seconds in a minute.
To tell the time you usually use a clock or a watch.
A clock: A watch:
There are analogue clocks and watches and there are digital clocks and watches.
Analogue clocks and watches often have
numbers on the "face" to show the hours and
lines to show the minutes. An analogue clock
also has "hands", a short hand to show the
hour, a longer hand to show the minutes, and
sometimes a long thin hand to show the
seconds.
14:00
Digital clocks and watches show the exact
hours and minutes in numbers. They use 24
hours and sixty minutes to show the time.
To the Hour

2. We say o'clock 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
The times of the day:-
When talking about the time, to show whether it's morning or later we use am and pm.
Morning Afternoon Evening Night

3. 00:01 - 11.59 12:01 - 18:00 18:01 - 22:00 22:01 - 23.59
1 to 11.59 am 12.01 to 6 pm 6.01 to 10 pm 10.01 to 11.59 pm
12 o'clock is noon (daytime) or midnight (night).
Telling the time to the half hour or quarter hour
There are 15 minutes in quarter of an hour.
There are 30 minutes in half an hour.
There are 45 minutes in three quarters of an hour.
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".
30 minutes is half an hour, we say "half past" or "thirty".
15 minutes is quarter of an hour. At 15 minutes past the hour we say "quarter past" or "fifteen". At
fifteen minutes to the hour we say "quarter to" or "forty-five".

4. Twelve
o'clock
Twelve
fifteen
or
Quarter
past
twelve
Twelve
thirty
or
Half
past
twelve
Twelve
forty-five
or
Quarter
to one
Naturally speaking
Exactly or about
Exactly About
14.00
It's exactly two o'clock.
14.28
It's about half past two.
How to ask the time - requires Real Player Basic
o Excuse me . What time is it
please?
 It's exactly eight o'clock.
or
 It's eight.

5. o Excuse me . Do you have the
time please?
 It's half past twelve.
or
 It's twelve thirty.
o Excuse me . Could you tell me
the time please?
 It's about half past eleven.
or
 It's abouteleven thirty.
Writing the time
morning 00:01 - 11:59
a.m. - stands for Ante Meridiem (the time between
00:01 hrs -
midnight and noon)
12:00
noon or midday 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
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.

6. Some people use a colon as the separator: 2:30 pm. The colon is usually used with the 24-hour
clock: 14:30.
To the minute
In five minute increments we say:-
Five
past
one
Ten
past
one
One
twenty
One
twenty-five
Twenty-five
to
two
Twenty
to two
Ten to
two
Five to
two
At other "odd" times, when we want to be accurate, we add the word "minute(s)":-
It's twenty-eight minutes to
twelve.
It's one minute past three.
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 to
say "in the morning".
If it's after noon we say "in the
afternoon".
If it's late we say "at night".
07:00
It's seven o'clock in the morning
14:00
It's two o'clock in the afternoon
22:00
It's ten o'clock at night
15 minutes past the hour is
quarter past:
07:15
It's quarter past seven in the
morning
14:15
It's quarter past two in the
afternoon
22:15
It's quarter past ten at night
30 minutes past the hour is half
past:

7. 07:30
It's half past seven in the
morning
14:30
It's half past two in the
afternoon
22:30
It's half past ten at night
45 minutes past the hour is
quarter to:
07:45
It's quarter to eight in the
morning
14:45
It's quarter to three in the
afternoon
22:45
It's quarter to eleven at night