To get the most out of telling the time, it can be helpful to practice in new ways. Zero hundred hours / Twenty-four hundred hours This format is used by the military and is considered to be the International Standard for time-telling. Learning how to tell military time in English can be even easier for some new learners.

Read the whole time mini lesson video transcript here. Practice your speech and pronunciation for time vocabulary in this short telling the time video lesson with English language teacher, Mariana Bernicci. Remember, if you’re using the variations, once you go past half past the hour, you move from saying past, instead to to. Note that there are some variations to telling the time in exact minutes, which we’ve provided in the variation column. If the minutes are under ten, like 1:07, you will say the zero as a part of the minute number. Start with the number of the hour, then add the number for the minutes. When saying the full time, including minutes, you’ll generally want to pair every individual component together. Our meeting is at three o’clock in the afternoonĭinner this evening will be served at six You’ll find that this can be more casual than saying the actual time itself. In English, there are several common ways to reference the time of day depending on what portion of the day you are in. How to say what time of day it is in English It’s ten forty-five / It’s a quarter to eleven These are the three most common milestones and how to say them in English. How to say half past, quarter past, and quarter toĪ big part of telling time is understanding notable milestones in the hour. Let’s explore how to tell time on the hour, using the examples below ranging from 1-12. To tell the time of the hour, say the hour by number and add o’clock to the end of it. Time, which is pronounced tīm, is very simple to ask for. In this section, we'll explore asking for the time, and break down step by step how to tell the time, so you can get the confidence to communicate about time, no matter what minute or hour of the day it is. You can always start with the basics by addressing the English number for the hour, which ranges from 1 to 12 in traditional time and 1 to 24 in military time. Telling the time in English can seem challenging at first because there are so many options to consider – but that’s also part of the fun. And by reading this article, you’re doing a remarkable thing by crystallizing your time knowledge and skills. There’s so much that is dependent upon time. Much of humanity relies upon structuring our daily life around dates, days of the week, minutes, hours, months, and years. Time is also a universal truth - and a concept ingrained in every language and culture. That’s because once time has passed, you can’t get it back.

It’s one of the mysteries of the universe and is debatably, one of humanity’s most invaluable and powerful resources. Time’s importance underpins humanity's very existence. Keep reading to dive into everything you need to know about telling the time! Perfect for both adults learning English and children mastering time telling, this article will explore the importance of time, break down how actually to talk about and say the time and even touch on some mind-bending philosophy and science.

And there’s no time like the present to learn how to tell the time. There are countless ways to address the concept of time in the English language. Whether you’re planning an activity, making restaurant bookings or appointments, or catching trains, planes and buses, knowing how to tell the time in English is a pretty valuable skill to have.

Converting time clock into letters