How To Say The Time In English

HOW TO SAY THE TIME IN ENGLISH



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 - sevenforty-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 forminutes 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

Anotherpossibility 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 - halfpast five


Watch
[pic]

Note
Use o'clock only at the full hour.
Example: 7:00 - seven o'clock (but 7:10 - ten past seven)

In English ordinary speech, the twelve-hour clock is used.[pic]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 o'clock noon or after, you can use in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening,at night. Use in themorning before 12 o'clock noon, after 12 o'clock noon use in the afternoon. When to change from afternoon to evening, from eveningto 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, beforenoon) 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....