Time vocabulary

Time

Second: base unit of time. There are 60 seconds in one minute. The thing that is measured in seconds, minutes, hours, days is called time. Time includes:

• Minute: Unit of time that is equal to 60 seconds
• Hour: unit of time that is equal to 60 minutes
• Half: 30 minutes
• Quarter: 15 minutes
• O’clock: used for the hour without minutes

Clocks and watches

Device to indicate time is called clock. The clock can include:

Clocks and watches

• Grandfather clock: a tall clock with a pendulum that is in a carved wooden case. It is also called a longcase clock
• Alarm clock: a clock that is used to awaken people at a particular time with a sound.
• Watch: a small clock that is worn on a wrist
• Digital watch: a watch with a display that indicates time as a number

Telling time

Past is used after the minutes 1-30. To is used after the minutes 31-59.

Telling time

• 9:00 it’s nine o’clock (abbreviation: of clock)
• 9:01 it’s one minute past nine
• 9:03 it’s three minutes past nine
• 9:05 it’s five past nine (also nine oh five)
• 9:10 it’s ten past nine (also nine ten)
• 9:15 it’s a quarter past nine (also nine fifteen)
• 9:30 it’s half past nine (also nine thirty)
• 9:40 It’s twenty to ten (also nine forty)
• 9:45 it’s a quarter to ten (also nine forty-five)
• 9:50 it’s ten to ten (also nine fifty)
• 9:57 it’s three minutes to ten
• 10:00 it’s ten o’clock

 12-hour clock

AM and PM

We use a.m. and p.m. for 12-hour clock.

• a.m. (ante meridiem): before midday
• p.m. (post meridiem): after midday

Compare

The 24-hour clock	The 12-hour clock
00:00	12:00  am (midnight)
09:00	9:00 am
10:30	10:30 am
12:00	12:00 pm (noon)
13:45	1:45 pm
20:15	8:15 pm
24:00	Midnight

The 12-hour clock

Asking the time

We can use different ways to ask the time:

• What is the time? (informal)
• What time is it? (informal)
• What time is it, please?
• Could you tell me the time, please? (more formal)
• Do you happen to have the time?
• Do you know what time is it?