In more informal speech, we say, e.g., four o’clock in the morning/afternoon, seven o’clock in the evening or eleven thirty at night.Īnd while we’re on the subject of time, did you know that ‘time’ is the most commonly used noun in English? Next month I’ll be looking at some common phrases containing this word. (note that you shouldn’t say ‘o’clock’ with these abbreviations). and p.m. to specify whether a time is before or after midday (mostly UK) / noon (mostly US): 4:00 four a.m. So 7:40 is seven forty or twenty to eight (UK and US), or twenty of eight (US). So 5:20 is five twenty (UK and US), twenty past five (mostly UK) or twenty after five (US).Īnd for times between thirty-one and fifty-nine minutes after the hour, UK and US English use to and US English sometimes uses of. Just to make things more complicated, for 8:45, both can say eight forty-five or (a) quarter to nine Americans can also say (a) quarter of nine, but this is less common.įor times between one and twenty-nine minutes after the hour, UK English uses past and US English after (although past is also sometimes used in US English). For instance, for 4:15, both say four fifteen both could also say (a) quarter past four but this is less common for Americans, and Americans more frequently say (a) quarter after four. There are some other differences between UK and US English. Be aware that – unlike some other languages such as German – we relate half hours to the hour before, not the next hour. However, it is also common to convert 12-hour times into their old-fashioned equivalents, especially for units of 15 or 30 minutes, for example saying half past five for 5:30 ( half past is much less common in US English). With the 12-hour clock, we may say the numbers for other times: 3:23 three twenty-three / 7:45 seven forty-five. With both systems, we say o’clock for whole hours: 3:00 three o’clock. In more general speech, many of us move between a 12-hour clock and the more old-fashioned system we use for clocks with hands. In the US, use of the 24-hour clock even for timetables is not common. For instance, we can say that a train leaves at 20:15 twenty fifteen. In general, we only tend to use the 24-hour clock system for timetables (UK) / schedules (US). When we learn to tell time, we also have to learn the linguistic quirks of how we talk about time. There are of course, various methods of telling the time: the 24-hour clock, the 12-hour clock and the old-fashioned way, using a round clock with hands. In Scotland, back of 10 means a bit past 10anywhere from 10:05 to 10:15. However, if you are not sure if they know, for example if you want to ask a stranger on a train or in the street, you can say: Excuse me, do you have the time, please? or (in UK English) Have you got the time, please? Improve your English by studying abroad, take a look at our English language schools.Talking about time is a very basic skill, but one that can often cause problems, especially if your main language thinks about time in a different way.įirstly, if you want to know the time, what question do you need to ask? Well, if you are sure that the person you are asking knows the answer, you can simply say: What time is it? or What’s the time? (this is less common in US English). Midnight is 12:00am (12 o'clock at night) Noon is 12:00pm (12 o'clock, the start of the afternoon.Also called midday) We then start to use to, 'twenty to eight' (7:40). The term 4 hours 20 is sometimes used in what It is sometimes used in catering service jargon, i.e. twenty past seven twenty five past six half past five twenty five to four. In British English, we only use past until half past (30 minutes past). eleven oclock five past ten ten past nine quarter past eight. You can also describe time in words, such as ten minutes past/after. <4 is a play on the <3 emoticon, which represents a heart and means 'love' or 'I love you.' For those who are totally besotted, <4 is a way to add emphasis to a declaration of love. Here are the key phrases you need to know. Total number of letters 20, total number of words 5, 20 divided by 5 4, mean word length 4. A common year has 365 days and a leap year (occurring mostly every 4 years) has 366. The characters < and 4 (which together mean 'less than four') are used as an emoticon to express intense love. Do you know how to respond when some asks you,"What's the time?", and do you understand when some tells you what time it is. Practice your understanding of time expressions.
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