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Being able to understand the time in a new language is essential. You need to know when your train will arrive, what time class starts, the time of your dinner reservation, and more. Like most other countries around the world, English speakers tell time with hours, minutes, and seconds. Because the time system is so similar, learning how to tell time in English is easy, especially if you already know your numbers in English.
How to ask ‘What time is it?’ in English
The easiest way to ask for the time in English is:
You can use this expression at any time of day, and you can use it in both casual and polite situations.
Here are a few other expressions to ask about the time:
| English | Pronunciation |
| Do you have the time? | doo yoo hav thuh tahym |
| Do you know what time it is? | doo yoo noh wuht tahym it iz |
| What time does [event] start? | wuht tahym dohz ___ stahrt |
| What time does [event] end? | wuht tahym dohz ___ end |
| What time does [location or event] open? | wuht tahym dohz ___ OH-puhn |
| What time does [location or event] close? | wuht tahym dohz ___ klohz |
12-hour clock vs. 24-hour clock in English
English primarily uses a 12-hour clock. That means you might need to specify the time of day along with the time on the clock. The easiest way to do this is to add a.m. (starting at 12:00 in the middle of the night) or p.m. (starting at 12:00 in the middle of the day) to the time. You can also describe the time of day in words!
| English | Pronunciation |
| a.m. | ey em |
| p.m. | pee em |
| in the morning | in thuh MAWR-ning |
| in the afternoon | in thuh af-ter-NOON |
| in the evening | in thuh EEV-ning |
| at night | at nahyt |
| midnight | MID-nahyt |
| noon | noon |
Here are a few different ways to describe the same time:
- 12:00 a.m. = midnight
- 3:00 a.m. = 3:00 in the morning
- 12:00 p.m. = noon
- 1:00 p.m. = 1:00 in the afternoon
- 6:00 p.m. = 6:00 in the evening
- 11:00 p.m. = 11:00 at night
How to tell time in English
To tell time in English, you give the hour first, then the number of minutes, and the time of day if you like. However, there are a few unique rules that you need to remember for time in English.
Hours in English
When a new hour begins, English uses the term o’clock after the number of the hour. You can use the same expression for a.m. or p.m.
| English | Pronunciation | Clock Time |
| It’s one o’clock. | its wuhn uh-KLOK | 1:00 |
| It’s two o’clock. | its too uh-KLOK | 2:00 |
| It’s three o’clock. | its three uh-KLOK | 3:00 |
| It’s four o’clock. | its fawr uh-KLOK | 4:00 |
| It’s five o’clock. | its fahyv uh-KLOK | 5:00 |
| It’s six o’clock. | its siks uh-KLOK | 6:00 |
| It’s seven o’clock. | its SEV-uhn uh-KLOK | 7:00 |
| It’s eight o’clock. | its eyt uh-KLOK | 8:00 |
| It’s nine o’clock. | its nahyn uh-KLOK | 9:00 |
| It’s ten o’clock. | its ten uh-KLOK | 10:00 |
| It’s eleven o’clock. | its ih-LEV-uhn uh-KLOK | 11:00 |
| It’s twelve o’clock. | its twelv uh-KLOK | 12:00 |
If you want to specify when something happens, use at before the time, one of the prepositions in English:
- The airplane arrives at nine o’clock p.m.
- The train departs at six o’clock a.m.
You can also just say the number of the hour without adding o’clock:
- The airplane arrives at nine p.m.
- The train departs at six a.m.
Minutes in English
When talking about minutes on the clock in English, there are a few different phrases to remember that mean the same time.
On the quarters of the hour (15 minutes, 30 minutes, and 45 minutes), you can either say the number or use a unique expression for that time:
| English | Pronunciation | Clock Time |
| It’s five fifteen. | its fahyv FIF-TEEN | 5:15 |
| It’s a quarter past five. | its uh KWAWR-ter past fahyv | 5:15 |
| It’s eight thirty. | its eyt THUR-tee | 8:30 |
| It’s half past eight. | its half past eyt | 8:30 |
| It’s one forty-five. | its wuhn FAWR-tee-FAHYV | 1:45 |
| It’s a quarter to two. | its uh KWAWR-ter too too | 1:45 |
The expressions a quarter past and half past use the current hour. When using a quarter to for the 45-minute mark, you need to use the next hour in the expression and not the current hour.
- It’s a quarter to one. = 12:45
- It’s a quarter to two. = 1:45
English has a unique rule where the first nine minutes of the hour use oh instead of saying zero before a single-digit minute.
| English | Pronunciation | Clock Time |
| It’s one-oh-one. | its wuhn-oh-wuhn | 1:01 |
| It’s one-oh-two. | its wuhn-oh-too | 1:02 |
| It’s one-oh-three. | its wuhn-oh-three | 1:03 |
| It’s one-oh-four. | its wuhn-oh-fawr | 1:04 |
| It’s one-oh-five. | its wuhn-oh-fahyv | 1:05 |
| It’s one-oh-six. | its wuhn-oh-siks | 1:06 |
| It’s one-oh-seven. | its wuhn-oh-SEV-uhn | 1:07 |
| It’s one-oh-eight. | its wuhn-oh-eyt | 1:08 |
| It’s one-oh-nine. | its wuhn-oh-nahyn | 1:09 |
For example, it’s not correct to simply give the number of the hour and the number of the minute without the oh:
- Incorrect: It’s one five (1:05).
- Correct: It’s one-oh-five (1:05).
For all other minutes, you don’t need to add oh because there is no zero:
- It’s eight twenty-five p.m.
- It’s two forty-two p.m.
- My train departs at eight thirty-seven a.m.
Seconds in English
Seconds are rarely added to time in English. Usually, you say them by themselves. You’ll sometimes see seconds added to a clock when events are timed, like races and tests. However, you read them in time increments instead of using words like o’clock for the hour.
- forty-seven seconds
- You have two hours, ten minutes, and thirty seconds to finish your exam.
3 important rules about how to write time in English
In addition to learning how to say or ask the time, there are a few English grammar rules you need to know when writing the time. Fortunately, rules about spelling the time out (forty-five seconds vs. 45 seconds) are the same as normal numbers in English. The three rules below will help you write the time using Arabic numerals.
1. Use a colon to separate numbers in American English.
For Standard English as spoken in the US, the hour, minutes, and seconds in time are separated by a colon (:) without spaces. The English spoken in other English-speaking countries (like British English) sometimes uses a period (.) instead.
- American English: 4:45
- British English: 4.45
One exception to this rule is military time, which is used by the US military. Military time uses a 24-hour clock, doesn’t use punctuation, and reads the time as one whole number.
- 12-hour clock: 4:00 p.m.
- Military time: 1600 = sixteen hundred
2. Do not use punctuation for time zones.
The US has six main official time zones (plus a few additional ones for territories and unusual cases). As a result, it’s very common for events that happen simultaneously nationwide to include one or more time zones in the time to be clear about when an event starts or ends. Due to daylight saving time, a D (for daylight) or S (for standard) might be included in the time zone.
Time zones do not include punctuation, and they are written at the end of the time (after a.m. or p.m., if included). If more than one time zone is included, the times are separated by a forward slash (/).
- The show airs at 11:00 p.m. ET/10:00 p.m. CT.
| Abbreviation | English |
| ET | Eastern Time |
| CT | Central Time |
| MT | Mountain Time |
| PT | Pacific Time |
| AKT | Alaska Time |
| HST | Hawaii Standard Time* |
*Hawaii and the US territories do not observe daylight saving time, so it’s always standard time.
3. Rules for a.m. and p.m. punctuation vary.
Depending on who is writing the time, the rules about writing a.m. and p.m. are different. All of these examples are correct:
- 9 a.m. = 9 am = 9 A.M. = 9 AM
- 3 p.m. = 3 pm = 3 P.M. = 3 PM
If you’re writing for school or work, ask if you need to use a specific style. For example, The Chicago Manual of Style (“Chicago style”) and The Associated Style Pressbook (“AP style”) recommend a.m. and p.m.
Expressions about time in English
When using time in conversation, you’ll use more expressions than simple statements like It’s two o’clock. Here are a few other English words and phrases you can use to talk about time:
| English | Pronunciation | Example |
| minutes to | MIN-its tuh | It’s 20 minutes to 3:00. (2:40) |
| past | past | It’s 10 past 3:00. (3:10) |
| ago | uh-GOH | I just cleaned that floor five minutes ago! |
| in time | in tahym | I got home in time for dinner. |
| on time | on tahym | Is the flight on time? |
| delayed | dih-LEYD | No, the flight is delayed. |
| from [time] to [time] | fruhm ___ too ___ | The palace’s hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. |
Learn how to tell time in record time with Rosetta Stone
Telling time in English is an essential skill, whether you’re living in an English-speaking country or just traveling. Fortunately, it’s easy to practice. At any time of day, ask yourself What time is it? Then, answer your own question in English. If you can find a conversation partner, that’s even better!
It’s best to learn English that’s used in daily conversation by immersing yourself in the language. With Rosetta Stone’s Dynamic Immersion method, all of your lessons will include audio from native speakers alongside images and text. Focus on listening to the audio to improve your ability to understand spoken English!
