What's the Time in English?

Explanation

There are two common ways of telling the time.

Formal but easier way

Say the hours first and then the minutes.

• Example:7:45 - seven forty-five

For minutes 01 through 09, you can pronounce the '0' as oh.

• Example:11:06 - eleven (oh) six

More popular way

• Say the minutes first and then the hours. Use past and the preceding (vt.在..之前发生，先于，领先)hour for minutes 01 through 30. Use to and the forthcoming（adj.即将到来的，现成的，乐于助人的，n.来临，临近） hour for minutes 31 through 59, but .
  • Example: 7.15 - fifteen minutes past seven
  • Example: 7.45 - fifteen minutes to eight
• Another possibility of saying '15 minutes past' is: a quarter(n.四分之一，一刻钟) past
• Another possibility of saying '15 minutes to' is: a quarter to
• Another possibility of saying '30 minutes past' is: half past
  • Example: 5:30 - half past five

Watch

Note

Use o'clock only at the full hour.

• Example: 7:00 - seven o'clock
• (but 7:10 - ten past seven)

In English ordinary speech, the twelve-hour clock is used.

• Beispiel: 17:20 - twenty past five

For times around midnight or midday you can use the expressions midnight or midday / noon instead of the number 12.

• Beispiel: 00:00 - midnight(n.午夜，子夜)
• Beispiel: 12:00 - midday(n.中午，正午) or noon（n.晌午；正午）

To make clear (where necessary) whether you mean a time before 12 o'clock noon or after, you can use in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, at night.

• Use in the morning before 12 o'clock noon,
• after 12 o'clock noon use in the afternoon.

When to change from afternoon to evening, from evening to night and from night to morning depends on your sense of time.

• Example: 3:15 - a quarter past three in the morning
• OR a quarter past three at night

NOTE：

More formal expressions to indicate whether a time is before noon or after are a.m.(also: am - ante meridiem, before noon) and p.m. (also: pm - post meridiem, after noon). Use these expression only with the formal way of telling the time.

• Example: 3:15 - three fifteen a.m.

It is not usual to use a.m. and p.m. with past/to.

• Example: 3:15 - fifteen minutes past three
• OR a quarter past three

American English

Beside past Americans often use after.

• Example: 06:10 - ten past/after six

But: in time expressions with half past it is not usual to replace past by after.

Beside to Americans often use before, of or till.

• Example: 05:50 - ten to/before/of/till six

Dates in Written English

British English

In British English the day is usually put before the month. If you wish, you can add the ending of the ordinal number. The preposition of before the month is usually dropped. You can put a comma before the year, but this is not common anymore in British English. 

 

Example: 5(th) (of) October(,) 2004

American English

In American English the month is usually put before the day. If you wish, you can put the definite article before the day. It is common to write a comma before the year.

Example: October (the) 5(th), 2004

Using digits

You can also write the date by using numbers only. The most common forms are:

Example: 5/10/04 or 5-10-04

Note, however, that 5/10/04 usually means 5 October 2004 in British English and May 10, 2004 in American English. To avoid any possible confusion, you should spell out the month or use the abbreviation.

Dates in Spoken English

If you put the day before the month, use the definite article before the day and the preposition of before the month.

5 October 2004 - the fifth of October, two thousand and four

If you put the month before the day, use the definite article before the day in British English. In American English, the definite article can be dropped.

October 5, 2004 - October (the) fifth, two thousand and four

Years

From 2000 onwards, years are pronounced like ordinary cardinal numbers.

• 2000 - two thousand
• 2003 - two thousand and three

Earlier years are pronounced differently: the first two figures are a number and the last two figures are a number. They can be joined by hundred and, which is only necessary, however, if the last two figures are 00 through 09.

• 1999 - nineteen (hundred and) ninety-nine
• 1806 - eighteen hundred and six /
• eighteen oh six

If you want to give the year without an exact date, use the preposition in:

• I was born in 1972.

To distinguish between dates before and after the birth of Christ, use BC und AD:

• BC = 'Before Christ'
• AD = 'Anno Domini' (in the year of the Lord)

Months and Days of the Week

Note that the months and days of the week are always capitalised. If you don't want to write the whole words, you can use the abbreviations. In British English, abbreviations are usually written without full stops (Apr), full stops are normal, however, in American English (Apr.).

Months are abbreviated （abbreviate v.缩写）as follows:

Month	Abbreviation	Month	Abbreviation
January	Jan	July	-
February	Feb	August	Aug
March	Mar	September	Sept
April	Apr	October	Oct
May	-	November	Nov
June	-	December	Dec

Days of the week are abbreviated（abbreviate v.缩写） as follows:

Day	Abbreviation
Monday	Mon
Tuesday	Tue
Wednesday	Wed
Thursday	Thu
Friday	Fri
Saturday	Sat
Sunday	Sun