Telling the Time
Learn 20 easy A1 English words for telling the time - quarter past, half past, a.m. and p.m., early, late - with examples, a story and a quiz.
Telling the time in English is the one A1 skill people practise for years and still get wrong, because English does it backwards: after the half hour we count towards the next hour, not away from the last one. Learn these 20 words, read the rule in the tutor box, and then meet my friend Rami, who has been late to everything since 2011.
20 words to learn
The 20 words
/taɪm/
The hours and minutes of the day.
What time is it, please?
/ˈaʊə(r)/
Sixty minutes. The h is silent, so we say an hour.
I waited for an hour.
/ˈmɪnɪt/
Sixty seconds. Say MIN-it.
The bus leaves in ten minutes.
/əˈklɒk/
Used only for the exact hour: 3:00, 8:00.
The lesson starts at nine o’clock.
/ˈkwɔːtə(r)/
Fifteen minutes – one fourth of an hour.
It is a quarter past six.
/hɑːf pɑːst/
Thirty minutes after the hour. 7:30 is half past seven.
We eat at half past eight.
/pɑːst/
After the hour. Used for minutes 1 to 30.
It is twenty past four.
/tə/
Before the next hour. Used for minutes 31 to 59.
It is ten to five.
/ˌmɪdˈdeɪ/
Twelve o’clock in the day. Also called noon.
The shop closes at midday.
/ˈmɪdnaɪt/
Twelve o’clock at night.
The train arrives at midnight.
/ˈmɔːnɪŋ/
From when you wake up until midday.
I study best in the morning.
/ˌɑːftəˈnuːn/
From midday until about six.
We have a meeting this afternoon.
/ˈiːvnɪŋ/
From about six until you go to bed.
Good evening!
/naɪt/
The dark hours when people sleep.
I do not drink coffee at night.
/ˈɜːli/
Before the right time.
I always arrive ten minutes early.
/leɪt/
After the right time.
Sorry I am late.
/ɒn taɪm/
At exactly the right time – not early, not late.
The plane was on time.
/əˈlɑːm/
The clock or phone that wakes you up.
My alarm rings at six thirty.
/ˌeɪˈem/, /ˌpiːˈem/
a.m. is before midday, p.m. is after midday.
The flight is at 7 a.m., not 7 p.m.
/weɪt/
To stay somewhere until something happens.
Please wait here for five minutes.
Now read the story
Story · all 20 words
Ten to Four
My friend Rami is late for everything. Not five minutes late – forty. He arrived at his own sister’s wedding after the food had finished, and once he came to a nine o’clock exam at half past ten and seemed surprised that the door was locked.
He does own an alarm. He sets it every night before he sleeps, usually at midnight, and it rings at six thirty in the morning. Then he presses one button, closes his eyes for what he describes as a moment, and the next thing he sees is the time on his phone saying eight fifteen.
Last month he decided to change his life. “From Sunday,” he announced, “I will be early for everything.” On Sunday he left the house at a quarter past seven for a meeting at eight, and he arrived twenty minutes before it started. He sat alone in an empty room and had no idea what to do with himself.
It lasted exactly four days. On Thursday afternoon we agreed to meet at ten to four outside the library. I got there on time and then had to wait for a whole hour. He appeared at five past five holding two coffees, both of them cold, and explained that the traffic in this city is impossible.
So now we do something different, and I am not proud of it. When we agree on a time, I tell him a time thirty minutes before the real one. If we are eating at half past eight in the evening, I say eight. It works perfectly. He has been on time for six weeks and he is extremely proud of himself, and I will never tell him. The only thing I still have to explain is a.m. and p.m., because last week he came to a midday lunch at midnight.
The rule that confuses everybody. English changes direction at the half hour:
Minutes 1 to 30 → use past (after the hour)
Minutes 31 to 59 → use to (before the next hour)
3:10 = ten past three | 3:15 = a quarter past three | 3:30 = half past three
3:45 = a quarter to four | 3:50 = ten to four
Look at 3:45 again. It is a quarter to four, not to three. After half past, you count towards the hour that is coming.
The easy escape. You can always say the digits instead, and it is completely correct English: three fifteen, three forty-five, eight thirty. Use this when you are speaking quickly, and use past and to when you have time to think.
Two small things: the h in hour is silent, so it takes an – an hour, never a hour. And o’clock is only for the exact hour: five o’clock is fine, five thirty o’clock is not.
Prepositions: at six o’clock, at midday, at night, but in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening.
The units: time, hour, minute, o’clock.
Saying it: quarter past, half past, quarter to – past for 1-30, to for 31-59.
Parts of the day: morning, midday, afternoon, evening, night, midnight, a.m. and p.m.
Being there: early, on time, late, wait, alarm.
Look at a clock right now and say the time twice – once with past or to, and once with the digits.
Now practise with the questions below.
Check your understanding
Answer the questions below. You will see instantly if you are right.
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