Telling the time: English 3AC communication

How do you ask and tell the time in English?

Ask What time is it? or What's the time? Begin the answer with It's: It's eight o'clock. You can also read the digits: 8:20 is eight twenty. For 8:05, eight oh five is a common digital reading. Do not add o'clock after minutes: eight twenty o'clock is incorrect.

A timetable question is different from asking the current time. Ask What time does the English lesson start? Answer The lesson starts at nine. At introduces the exact starting time. Practise the full answer before shortening it to At nine.

When do you use past, to, quarter and half?

Use past for minutes after the hour: 9:10 is ten past nine. Fifteen minutes is a quarter, so 9:15 is a quarter past nine. Thirty minutes is half, so 9:30 is half past nine.

Use to for minutes before the next hour. At 9:50, ten minutes remain before ten: it is ten to ten. At 9:45, it is a quarter to ten. Look carefully at the next hour. 11:55 is five to twelve, not five to eleven.

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How do you make a timetable clear?

Use a.m. for morning times and p.m. for afternoon or evening times. Seven a.m. is in the morning; seven p.m. is in the evening. Noon means midday and midnight means the middle of the night. In school tasks, include the day or a.m./p.m. when the situation needs it. A 24-hour timetable may show 16:30; a clear spoken answer is half past four in the afternoon.

A worked example

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How should I use this English 3AC lesson?

• Try the exercises before reading the answers.
• Explain a correction in your own words.
• Return to the examples when two structures look similar.