Category: A1

A1, Recorded class

Telling the time

WeSpeak Idiomas

Do you know how to tell the time in English? Watch this video to learn how to tell the time in two different formats.

Step 1: Watch the video

1. Say the hour first and then the minutes. Hour + Minutes

  • 6:25 – It’s six twenty-five
  • 8:05 – It’s eight O-five (the O is said like the letter O)
  • 9:11 – It’s nine eleven
  • 2:34 – It’s two thirty-four

2. Say the minutes first and then the hour.  (Minutes + PAST / TO + Hour)

For minutes 1-30 we use PAST after the minutes. For minutes 31-59 we use TO after the minutes.

  • 2:35 – It’s twenty-five to three
  • 11:20 – It’s twenty past eleven
  • 4:18 – It’s eighteen past four
  • 8:51 – It’s nine to nine
  • 2:59 – It’s one to three

When it is 15 minutes past the hour we normally say: (a) quarter past

  • 7:15 It’s (a) quarter past seven

When it is 15 minutes before the hour we normally say: a quarter to

  • 12:45 – It’s (a) quarter to one

When it is 30 minutes past the hour we normally say: half past

  • 3:30 – It’s half past three (but we can also say three-thirty)

Step 2: Exercises