Telling Time in English

Let’s learn how to talk about time in English!

Select an activity, or learn all about telling time in English.

Parts of the day

Telling time basics for kids

Telling Time Crossword

Bob’s Routine

Make your own clock

Telling time two ways memory game

Telling time – What’s the same game

Telling Time Quiz

LET’S LEARN HOW TO READ A DIGITAL CLOCK IN ENGLISH.

A.) We tell the time by saying the HOUR+ MINUTES.

B.) ON the HOUR, we say just the hour, or we say the hour+O’clock, AM/PM, in the morning/afternoon/evening/at night.

C.) When it is between 1 and 9 minutes after the hour, we use the letter O instead of the number zero.

Notice these common expressions, and use the correct one to match the pictures in the following dialogue:
Around the time means just before or after the time.
Almost the time means just before the time.
Just past/after means the time has past.

A. Excuse me.
B. Yes? How can I help you?
A. What time is it, please?
B. Let me look at my watch. It is ___________ 9:00AM/6PM/4 in the afternoon.
A. Thank you.
B. No problem. Happy to help.

LET’S PRACTICE:

LET’S LEARN HOW TO READ AN ANALOG CLOCK IN ENGLISH.

There are 2 methods for telling time with an analog clock.

METHOD ONE: This method is the same as above. It is simply the HOUR followed by the MINUTES.

METHOD TWO:

In the second method, we start with the MINUTES first and then the HOUR.
Think of the clock in two part, the right side and the left side. On the right side, we say the minutes after the hour that it is currently. On the left side, we say the minutes until the following hour.

LET’S START WITH THE RIGHT SIDE: MINUTES PAST HOUR

NOW LET’S LOOK AT THE LEFT SIDE: MINUTES UNTIL THE FOLLOWING HOUR

LET’S ADD THE LAST PIECE TO METHOD TWO:

When the minute hand points to 3 and 9 on the clock, we substitute the minutes for QUARTER.
When the minute hand points to 6, we substitute the minutes for HALF PAST.

Can you use METHOD 2 to tell the time?

What time is it?

Interactive Analog Clock