8 hours 15 minutes in English. Time in English. Word markers and for determining the time of day

Although we are taught to tell the time in school, most have never learned to do it properly. However, talk about time in modern world can't be avoided. The secret is that you need to restructure your thinking and start thinking in English. Many people try not to mention time, or simplify, or avoid using the words quarter, half, past, to.

To avoid possible inaccuracies, sometimes they simply say:

7.05 - seven five or seven oh five
7.10 - seven ten
7.15 - seven fifteen

The reason is that many have not fully figured out how to correctly indicate the time on English language. Today we will talk about how native speakers indicate time, how to use the words to and past, and talk about many other subtleties that will help you speak about time without errors and understand your interlocutors.

The first word you need to remember is o"clock. O"clock- this is an even hour, without minutes:

7.00 - seven o'clock
9.00 - nine o'clock
11.00 - eleven o'clock

Sometimes, especially at the initial stage of study, words are confused o"clock And hour. Please remember the difference: o"clock- a mark on the watch dial, and hour- 60 minutes, indicates duration, duration:

The lesson starts at 6 o"clock. - The lesson starts at six o'clock.

The lesson lasts for two hours. - The lesson lasts two hours.

To indicate right time, you need to mentally divide the dial in half and assign names to the halves:

first half hour: past(after)
second half of the hour: to(before)

Following important word: half- half, half an hour. It is important to understand the difference in the perception of time in English, since in English they always say "half after" ( half past ) and called after what time:

2:30 - half past two - half past three (half after two)

10:30 - half past ten - half past ten (half after ten)

12:30 - half past twelve - half past twelve (half after twelve)

By the way, in colloquial speech the word past often falls out of expression half past:

The number of minutes in the first half of the hour must be indicated using the word past in this format: how long has passed + after how long:

9:05 - five past nine (five after nine)

9:10 - ten past nine (ten after nine)

9:20 - twenty past nine (twenty after nine)

9:25 - twenty-five past nine (twenty-five after nine)

Please note that if the number of minutes is a multiple of five then don't say a word minutes.

Another key word: (a) quarter - a quarter of an hour. When they tell the time, they rarely say fifteen, as a rule, replace it with the word (a) quarter :

7:15 - quarter past seven (quarter after seven)

3:15 - quarter past three (quarter after three)

The last mark on the clock with the word past will half past. After half, another countdown begins, not after the last hour, but until the next hour, using the word to(before). The expression format is: how much left + until when:

5:35 - twenty five to six (twenty five to six)

5:40 - twenty to six (twenty to six)

5:45 - quarter to six (quarter to six)

5:50 - ten to six (ten to six)

5:55 - five to six (five to six)

If you need to specify number of minutes not divisible by five, the word is used minutes :

Three minutes past four - 4:03

Sixteen minutes past eight - 8:16

Twenty-two minutes to two - 1:38

Seven minutes to ten - 9:53

When indicating time, use the preposition

At half past four - at half past four (at half past four)

At three o"clock - at three o'clock

At quarter to seven - at fifteen minutes to seven (at a quarter to seven)

Twelve o'clock is usually called that - twelve o'clock, but we can say:

at noon- at noon
at midday- at noon
at midnight- at midnight

In everyday communication, they prefer to call time by an ordinary clock, which has twelve o'clock. To distinguish night from day, use abbreviations a.m. And p.m. As soon as they are not interpreted by students! In fact, both abbreviations come from Latin:

a.m. - ante meridiem- before noon, means the time from midnight to noon (night and morning)

p.m. - post meridiem- afternoon, time from noon to midnight (day and evening).

These abbreviations can be heard in conversation when it is necessary to clarify what time of day is meant. Also, in American English () is sometimes replaced by past on after, a to on of:

Five past six - five after six - five minutes past six (five after six)

Twenty to eight - twenty of eight - twenty minutes to eight (twenty before eight)

Time according to electronic clock ( digital clock or twenty-four hour clock), in which time is indicated by numbers from 0 hours to 24 hours, is indicated differently. This system is usually used in schedules, schedules, programs, official announcements, and military orders.

The system of indicating time using a 24-hour clock, which we will now talk about, is also called " Military time" ("War time"), because it is used in the army. It is so common to see these numbers on the airport display board, in the train schedule, it is immediately clear what time is meant, however, "pronouncing" the time using an electronic clock is not an easy task. Clocks and the minutes are not divided among themselves, so we are dealing with a four-digit figure.
For comparison, we offer you a table indicating the time according to the 12-hour system and the 24-hour system:

As you can see, if the hour is “even”, without minutes, then the first digit is called and the words are added hundred hours. If minutes are present, then the four-digit digit is divided by two and each is called separately + hours:

0945 - oh nine forty-five hours
1126 - eleven twenty-six hours
1757 - seventeen fifty-seven hours
0130 - zero one thirty hours

This notation of time is rarely used in everyday conversation; time is usually indicated in 12-hour format.

To find out the time, they usually ask:

What time is it?
Have you got the time?
What's the time?
Could you tell me the time, please?

All of the above questions are translated the same way: What time is it now? How much time? The last question sounds the most polite: Can you tell me what time it is?

Remember the rules for telling time in English so that you can always answer these questions. I wish you success!

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When composing phrases and sentences, as well as in colloquial speech that mention the time of day or night in English, the following are used: in, at - as prepositions of time, language constructs: half past - half after, quarter past - quarter after and others English words and phrases. Let's talk about all this in more detail and in order.

What time is it in English.

First, let's look at a few examples:

Example 1.

How do you say 8 hours 15 minutes in English?

• Quarter past eight - [ˈk(w)ɔːtə pɑːst eɪt ] -
• - fifteen minutes past nine;

In this example quarter - quarter, past - in a temporary sense indicates a later action: later, for, after, eight - eight, The literal translation looks like this: a quarter after eight, and the semantic translation into Russian: fifteen minutes past nine.

Example 2.

As it will be in English 17 hours 30 minutes.

• Half past five - [ hɑːf pɑːst faɪv ] -
• - half past six;

half - half, past - after, five - five; half after five- half past six.

Example 3.

How to say it in English: 20 hours 25 minutes.

• Twenty-five past eight - [ˈtwɛnti faɪv pɑːst eɪt ] -
• - twenty-five minutes past eight;

Twenty-five - twenty five, past - after, eight - eight, twenty five minutes after eight- twenty-five minutes past nine.

Example 4.

As it will be in English 18 hours 40 minutes.

• Twenty to seven - [ˈtwɛnti tuː ˈsɛv(ə)n ] -
• - twenty minutes to seven.

Rules of use:

Rule 1.

When to use - o"clock.

When you call time without minutes, (eight, five, two hours) the word is used - o "clock - [ əˈklɒk ]. Example:

• It"s five o"clock in the morning - [ɪts faɪv əˈklɒk ɪn ðə: ˈmɔːnɪŋ] -
• - It's five o'clock in the morning.

If you say time with minutes, (one hour fifteen minutes), word - o "clock not used. Instead, use: past or to.

Rule 2.

In what cases to use: past - [ pɑːst ] and to - [ tuː ].

1. If you're talking about time before 30 minutes inclusive, are used pretext past - after , for example, in Russian we say: twenty five minutes past eight, and in English they say: Twenty-five past eight - [ˈtwɛnti faɪv pɑːst eɪt ]; verbatim - twenty five after eight, but the correct translation into Russian is: twenty five minutes past eight.

   If you want to say 15 minutes of an hour, then you should use the word quarter - quarter, example: Quarter past eight - [ˈk(w)ɔːtə pɑːst eɪt ]- fifteen minutes past nine.

2. If the time is more than 30 minutes, use the preposition to, which in this case is translated as - to. For example, 18:40, in Russian we will say - twenty minutes to seven, and in English they say - Twenty to seven - [ˈtwɛnti tuː ˈsɛv(ə)n ]; literally - 20 minutes to seven, semantic translation: twenty minutes to seven

Rule 3.

Using the preposition at - [ æt ].

The preposition at is used to indicate a specific point in time, for example:

• I get up at six o"clock every morning - [aɪ ˈɡet ʌp æt sɪks əˈklɒk ˈɛvri ˈmɔːnɪŋ] -
• - I get up at six o'clock every morning.

Rule 4.

Use of the preposition in - [ ɪn ]

The preposition in in a temporary meaning indicates the moment or period of time, part of the day, time of year and can be translated into Russian as: during, for, through and is used in cases where you need to indicate a specific period of time, for example:

• I have class in 10 minutes - [aɪ hæv klɑːs ɪn ten ˈmɪnɪts] -
• - I have class in 10 minutes.

Additionally

In everyday life, the British usually use the twelve-hour format and add which part of the day the time belongs to. For example:

• It"s seven o"clock in the evening - [ɪts ˈsɛv(ə)n əˈklɒk ɪn ðə: ˈiːv(ə)nɪŋ] - it's seven o'clock in the evening.

You may not indicate the part of the day in your letter, but use abbreviations: am, pm.

1. am - (Latin, ante meridiem) before noon .
2. pm - (Latin, post meridiem) afternoon .

In American English, the preposition after is often used instead of past. And instead of the preposition to, it is possible to use the prepositions: of, before, till.

Words used in expressions and phrases about the time of day.

English words with transcription and pronunciation in Russian letters, related to the topic: “time and parts of the day.”

The pronunciation of English words indicated in the table in Russian letters does not convey the correct sound and is given as a hint for transcription, you can listen to the voice pronunciation of these words and phrases:

1. English words used in conversations about the time of day and night

Time is something we face every day. For example, when I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is look at the clock.

How often during the day do you ask the question: “What time is it?” How many times do you answer? I think more than once.

Therefore, it is very important to be able to and know how to correctly ask the time and say in English: “What time is it?”

• What do am and pm mean in English time and how to understand them?

How to ask the time in English?

There are a few basic phrases you can use to ask what time it is in English. The simplest and most common:

What time is it?
How much time?

What time is it now?
What time is it?

What is the time?
What time?

It is worth noting that you can ask these questions to friends, family members, colleagues and other acquaintances. When you address strangers, do not forget about polite forms. "Excuse me..."(sorry) - this is how you should start your question and/or add it at the end please(Please).

Excuse me, what time is it?
Excuse me, what time is it?

What's the time, please?
Could you tell me what time it is, please?

Excuse me, what time is it now, please?
Excuse me, please tell me what time is it now?

These were the most common options for asking the time in English, so you can safely use them in life. There are several more ways.

Could you tell me the time, please?
Could you tell me the time please?

Do you know what time it is now?
Do you know what time it is now?

Could you tell me the right time, please?
Could you tell me the exact time please?

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How to say time correctly in English?

How can you tell what time it is in English? You have to be careful here. After all, on English time It is spoken completely differently than in Russian.

The answer to the question about time goes like this:

What time is it?
It is two o'clock.
Two hours.

What time is it?
It is seven o'clock.
Seven o'clock.

What time is it?
It is four o'clock.
Four o'clock.

But how do you understand what time of day you mean? For this we can use these words:

In the morning- in the morning;
In the afternoon- during the day;
In the evening- In the evening;
At night- at night.

It is eight o'clock in the evening.
Eight o'clock in the evening.

It is three o'clock in the afternoon.
Three PM.

It is one o'clock at night.
It's one o'clock in the morning.

The most commonly used symbols to indicate the time of day in English are: AM and PM. Let me note that in official written speech we use only these designations.

What do AM and PM mean in English tense and how to understand them?

We are used to having 24 hours in a day. “It’s 22:00,” we can answer in Russian, meaning that it’s ten o’clock in the evening. The US, UK and many other countries use a 12-hour clock. According to him, the day is divided into two halves of 12 hours: before noon (AM) And afternoon (PM).

This is not entirely familiar to us, which is why most people have difficulties here. Now let’s break everything down so you can understand it.

What does A stand for?M?

A.M.(from the Latin ante meridiem - before noon) - this interval begins at 12 o'clock at night (midnight) and ends at 12 o'clock in the afternoon (noon). That is, it lasts from 00:00 to 12:00.

This is how we tell time using AM:

It's two AM.
Two o'clock in the morning. (2:00)

It's ten AM.
Ten in the morning. (10:00)

It's five AM.
Five in the morning. (5:00)

Please note that at the end of the sentence we are already don't set o"clock. There is no need to use it with AM and PM.

What does PM stand for??

PM(from the Latin post meridiem - after noon) - this interval begins at 12 noon (noon) and ends at 12 midnight (midnight). That is, it lasts from 12:00 to 00:00.

This is how we tell time using PM:

It's two P.M.
Two o'clock in the afternoon. (14:00)

It's ten P.M.
Ten pm. (22:00)

It's five P.M.
Five in the evening. (17:00)

How to say minutes in English?

How to call time in English with minutes? After all, we almost always speak both hours and minutes. Here are two ways:

1. We say numbers.

This is the simplest and most understandable way. In this case, we call only 2 numbers. The first digit indicates hours, and the second - minutes.

It's eight twenty two.
Eight hours twenty two minutes. (8:22)

It's one forty.
It's one forty. (13:40)

It's two sixteen.
Two hours and sixteen minutes. (2:16)

2. We use the prepositions to and past.

In this case we indicate the hour and minutes. Since this method is more common, let's look at it in more detail.

Use of past

Past(after) is used to show how much minutes PASSED after any hour. For example, after 13:00, 19:00, 23:00, etc.

We use this preposition only when there is a moment the hand is on the right half of the clock, that is, it shows minutes from 1 to 30.

Look at the examples and everything will become clear right away. Pay attention to the translation!

It's thirteen minutes past seven. (7:13)
Thirteen minutes eighth.

It's twenty five minutes past one. (1:25)
Twenty five minutes second.

It's ten minutes past nine. (9:10)
Ten minutes tenth.

How do we translate into Russian?

Russian logic is slightly different from English, and this is worth paying attention to when translating. Let's look at an example.

Use of to

To(before) used to show how many minutes are left before a certain hour. For example, until 13:00, 19:00, 23:00, etc.

We use this preposition if the minute hand is in the left half, that is from 31 to 59 minutes.

For example, if we see 5:53 on the clock, then we say that there are 7 minutes left until 6 o'clock.

It's twelve to five . (4:48)
It's twelve minutes to five.

It's five minutes to nine . (8:55)
Five minutes to nine.

It's ten minutes to three. (2:50)
Ten minutes to three.

And this is how it is translated into Russian. Let's look at the Russian/English analogy.

How to say half of such and such an hour (30 minutes)?

In Russian we often say not Thirty minutes first, and floor first. We can say this in English too, using the word half (half). This is the word we can use only with the preposition past. By the way, pay attention to the translation! The British have a very simple logic - they simply look at what the clock is showing now and call that particular hour.

It's half past five . (5:30)
Half past five. (Literally: half after five.)

It's half past two . (2:30)
Half past two. (Literally: half after two .)

It's half past six . (6:30)
Half past six. (Literally: half after six .)

Why do we use past? Because “to”, that is, “before” for us begins at 31 minutes, and 30 minutes is included in the past zone. The British believe that 30 minutes is still closer to the hour that is ticking. But from the 31st minute everything changes...

How do you say quarter of an hour (15 minutes)?

In English (as in Russian) we use the word quarter - quarter (15 minutes). Quarter we can use both with to, so with past.

If we're talking about the beginning of the hour(15 minutes on the clock), then use past. That is, we show that 15 minutes have passed after some hour.

It's quarter past three. (3:15)
Quarter past four. (Literally: quarter after three .)

It's quarter past seven. (7:15)
Quarter past seven. (Literally: quarter after seven .)

It's quarter past eleven . (11:15)
Quarter past eleven. (Literally: quarter after eleven .)

If we're talking about end of the hour(45 minutes on the clock), then use to.

In this case, we show that there are 15 minutes left until some hour. That is, 45 minutes have already passed.

It's quarter to three. (2:45)
A quarter to three. (Literally: quarter up to three.)

It's quarter to seven. (6:45)
A quarter to seven. (Literally: quarter up to seven.)

It's quarter to two. (1:45)
A quarter to two. (Literally: quarter up to two.)

What to do now? To easily name and say the time, you need to develop a skill, that is, bring it to automaticity. Now, when you see a clock, always think (or better yet, say) how it will be in English. Start with the task below.

Reinforcement task

In the meantime, let’s practice, translate into English:

What time is it now?

Excuse me, what time is it now?

It's 5 minutes past six (It's 5 minutes after 6).

It's 15 minutes past two.

It's now 10 minutes to eight in the morning.

It's 20 minutes past five.

It's half past two now.

Write your answers in the comments, and in 3 days I will post the correct options and you can test yourself.

What to do if, once you find yourself in another country, you suddenly need to urgently find out the exact time (after all, Big Bens are not found at every step). Or, even worse, they asked you for the exact time. You can, of course, bare your wrist and shove a Rolex in the face of a passerby, but it is much more interesting and useful to learn to understand all the subtleties of marking tenses (not to be confused with forms of verbs) in English. Moreover, this matter is not so complicated if you look into it.

First, you will have to learn the numbers from 1 to 12, because the 24-hour system is somehow not held in high esteem by the British. You will also have to learn the numbers from 1 to 30 to indicate minutes. As a bonus - two treasured words “half” (half) and “quarter” (quarter). Everything else is a matter of technique.

So, you have already found a victim on the street and are taking a decisive step towards her to confidently ask:

What time is it (now)? What time is it)?
What's the time? see above - the same
Do you have the time? Do you have a time/clock?
Could you tell me the time, please? Tell me, please, what time is it?
Do you happen to have the time? Could you tell me by chance what time it is?
Do you know what time it is? Do you know what time it is now?
At what time? When, what time?

If you really want to show your good manners, you can add “excuse me” before the beginning of the phrase, and then a detailed answer is guaranteed.

Now all that remains is to figure out what the kind person answered you. It is good if the exact time is expressed in whole hours. Then you only need to know the parts of the day:

in the morning(morning)
in the evening(evenings)
in the afternoon
at night (at night)

And in official speech, instead of “days” and “evenings”, capacious words are used a.m.(ante meridiem) - before noon, and p.m.(post meridiem) - after noon. Therefore, the British only need the 24-hour system in schedules, but everyone understands that 3 p.m. - it's 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and 3 a.m. - You stayed too long visiting.

Now we will move clockwise. If the time is accurate, then you can add “o’clock” after the number or put “exactly” in front of it. Both words are translated as “exactly:
It ’ s 9 o ’ clock in the morning .
It ’ s exactly 5 p . m .

If the interlocutor is too lazy to bother with minutes, then he can say:
It's about 6 in the evening. It's about 6 pm

Or maybe even stun you with mysterious phrases:
It ’ s noon . It ’ s midday . It's noon.
It ’ s midnight . It's midnight.

The fun begins. To be in the know, you will need to master two prepositions “past/after” (after) and “to” (without). Let's remember the numbers and let's go.
It’s 5 minutes after 2 p.m. 5 minutes past two (in the afternoon).
It ’ s 10 minutes to 8 a . m . B It's ten to eight (in the morning).

A task of ingenuity. How do you translate the following sentences:
It’s 25 minutes after 7 p.m.
It’s 10 minutes to 8 a.m.

There’s probably no point in fussing over minutes anymore. It is much better to practice on the dial yourself, moving the hands. Many English language learners find this activity very exciting.

Only quarters and halves remain: “quarter” and “half”.
It’s a quarter past 6 in the evening. It's a quarter past seven in the evening.
It’s half past 4 in the morning. It's half past five.
It’s a quarter to 10 in the morning. It's quarter to 10 am.

In general, you can express it even simpler (within censorship limits):
It's five-twenty a.m.5:20 am.

Now training, training, training again and you can shine with your knowledge in any city in the world, kindly offering your help to unlucky tourists.

especially for

Not a single day goes by without us looking at the clock, telling or asking the time. From this article you will learn how to say time in English, how AM and PM stand for it, and what “military time” is.

Basic English words on the topic “Time”

What are AM and PM?

In English, the day is clearly divided into two periods: AM and PM.

• AM – 00:00 - 12:00 or from midnight (midnight) to noon (midday);
• PM – 12:00 - 00:00 or from noon to midnight.

These abbreviations are not English, but Latin, they stand for ante meridiem(before noon) and post meridiem(afternoon). When naming time, these two abbreviations are often added to make it clear what time of day we are talking about.

A simple way to tell time in English

In Russian, we can call time simply by two numbers without any “twenty to twenty”, “half”, “quarter to” and so on. The same method exists in English.

• 03:15 – Three fifteen (three fifteen).
• 04:35 – Four thirty-five (four thirty-five).

If the exact hour without minutes is specified, then this hour is called + “o’clock”.

• 11:00 – Eleven o’clock (eleven o’clock).
• 10:00 – Ten o’clock (ten o’clock).

In speech, tense sentences are constructed with the formal subject it. According to the rules of grammar, a sentence must have a subject - it formally fulfills this role.

• It is five twenty-five AM. - It's five twenty-five in the morning.
• It's ten thirty PM. - It's ten thirty in the evening.

In our country you can often hear not “six in the evening”, but “eighteen hours”; in America, the 24-hour time format is practically not used in everyday life; it is used mainly by police officers, military personnel, technicians and people of other professions in which accuracy is important. This designation of time is called military time – « war time" By the way, how would you say 17:00 in English? Not seventeen o’clock or seventeen zero zero at all. It will be right seventeen hundred– literally, “seventeen hundred.”

Telling the time in English by the clock

Another, more common, way of saying time is by using expressions like “half past four” instead of “four thirty”, “a quarter to two” instead of “one forty five”, etc.

How this is done is shown in detail in the picture:

We call the exact time without tricks: It's... o'clock:

• It's ten o'clock. - It's ten o'clock now.
• It's four o'clock. - It's four o'clock now.

We call time with 30 minutes using half past(lit.: half after):

• It's half past four. - It's half past four now.
• It's half past one. - It's half past two now.

We call time with 15 minutes using a quarter past(a quarter after) or “a quarter to” (without a quarter):

• It’s a quarter past seven. - It's quarter past seven.
• It's a quarter to nine. - It's a quarter to nine now.

All other time options are indicated using to(without) or past(after).

• It's five past seven. – It’s five minutes past seven (lit.: five after seven).
• It's twenty-five to eleven. – It’s now twenty-five minutes to eleven (lit.: twenty-five to eleven).

Other useful words and expressions on the topic "Time"

One of the difficulties associated with the topic of time in English is the correct use of prepositions in different expressions. Mentions of time in conversations are far from limited to phrases like “It’s half past five.” For beginners, confusion often arises in the expressions “in an hour”, “at nine o’clock”, etc.

You can familiarize yourself with prepositions of time in this collection; below I also provide some template expressions that may be useful to you.