Whats the Time in English? Exercise Exercise on Telling the Time 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 oclock only at the full hour. Example: 7:00 - seven oclock (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 the expressions midnight or midday / noon instead of the number 12. Beispiel: 00:00 - midnight Beispiel: 12:00 - midday or noon To make clear (where necessary) whether you mean a time before 12 oclock noon or after, you can use in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, at night. Use in the morning before 12 oclock noon, after 12 oclock noon use in the afternoon. When to change from afternoon to evening, from evening to 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 with half past it is not usual to replace past by after. Beside to Americans often use before, of or till. Example: 05:50 - ten to/before/of/till six Changed: 10th Dec 2010 19:36
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 09:16:53 +0000
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