How to tell time
- Intro Lesson: a5:57
- Intro Lesson: b4:09
- Intro Lesson: c4:48
- Intro Lesson: d10:43
- Lesson: 1a0:59
- Lesson: 1b1:20
- Lesson: 1c0:51
- Lesson: 1d2:05
- Lesson: 2a2:29
- Lesson: 2b2:20
- Lesson: 2c2:19
- Lesson: 3a4:05
- Lesson: 3b4:18
- Lesson: 3c5:11
- Lesson: 3d4:58
- Lesson: 4a3:34
- Lesson: 4b4:19
- Lesson: 4c2:49
How to tell time
Lessons
In this lesson, we will learn:
- A review on saying times of the exact hours (o’clock) and parts of the days (in the morning, afternoon, evening or at night)
- How to say the time by: naming the number of hours and minutes (reading left to right), naming the minutes after the hour, or naming the minutes until the next hour
- The special ways of saying half and quarter hours: quarter past, quarter to, and half past
Notes:
- There are many ways to say the time.
- The simplest way to tell time is when the clock is on an exact hour (i.e. 12:00, 3:00; minute hand is on 12) you can simply call it as the number o’clock (ex. 12 o’clock, three o’clock)
- We can also say AM and PM as the part of the day instead:
- “in the morning” for 6AM to 11:59AM
- “noon” for 12:00PM
- “in the afternoon” for 12:01PM to 5:00PM
- “in the evening” for 5:01PM to 8:00PM
- “at night” for 8:01PM to 5:59AM
- “midnight” for 12:00AM
- Saying the hour is easy—the focus on the minutes. Three ways to tell time are by writing: 1. # hours # minutes
- Ex. 1:35 can be said as (1) one thirty-five, (2) thirty-five minutes after one, or (3) twenty-five minutes to two
- There are special ways to say half or quarter hours
- When the minutes are :15 we say “quarter after” the hour
- When the minutes are :30 we say “half past” the hour
- When the minutes are :45 we say “quarter to” the next hour
- Ex. (9:15 is quarter past nine), (6:30 is half past 6), (7:45 is quarter to eight)
- Although there are many ways to tell the time, there is usually one way that is said more commonly than the rest.
- The most common way to tell times is summarized in the figure below for the positions of the minute hand on the clock.
- If the minutes are :01 → :30 it’s common to say the minutes after the hour
- If the minutes are :31 → :59 it’s common to say the minutes to the next hour
2. # minutes after/past the hour
3. # minutes until/to the next hour

- IntroductionIntroduction to How to Tell Time:a)Telling the time using "o'clock" and parts of the dayb)3 different ways to say/tell the timec)Telling the time for half or quarter hoursd)Review on the different ways to tell or say the time
- 1.Turning Written Time back into Digital Time
Rewrite the time using numbers.a)Seven o'clock in the eveningb)Ten minutes after four in the afternoonc)Nine thirty-seven in the morningd)Five minutes to nine at night - 2.Turning Special Written Times back into Digital Time
Rewrite the special times using numbers.a)Quarter to three in the afternoonb)Quarter past ten in the morningc)Half past midnight - 3.Telling Time Multiple Ways
Rewrite the time as a sentence in 3 different ways:- (1) reading left to right, (2) minutes after the hour, (3) minutes until the next hour
- Also write whether it is morning, afternoon, evening or night
a)6:48 AMb)12:30 PMc)2:45 AMd)7:15PM - 4.Telling Time Multiple-Choice
Select the multiple-choice option that is WRONG.a)9:27 PM can be written as:b)5:45 AM can be written as:c)3:30 PM can be written as: