Whether you're traveling to an English-speaking country or interacting with native English speakers, telling and asking the time is an essential skill. In this article, we'll cover the essential vocabulary for talking about time, as well as common phrases and structures used in asking and telling the time in English.
Before we dive into the phrases for asking and telling the time, let's first review the vocabulary for telling the time in English. The most common way to tell the time in English is using a 12-hour clock. Here are the essential words and phrases:
Hour: refers to the time on the hour (e.g. one o'clock, two o'clock, etc.)
Minute: refers to each minute of the hour (e.g. six minutes past, thirty minutes past)
Half past: refers to 30 minutes past the hour
Quarter past: refers to 15 minutes past the hour
Quarter to: refers to 15 minutes before the next hour
AM/PM: refers to whether the time is in the morning or afternoon/evening
With that said, let's move on to the phrases for asking and telling the time in English.
There are several structures you can use when asking for the time in English:
What time is it? - This is the most common and straightforward way to ask for the time.
Do you know what time it is?
Could you tell me the time, please?
Excuse me, do you have the time?
It's important to note that when asking for the time, the response should come in the form of hours and minutes.
When telling the time, the structure typically goes as follows: hours + minutes + am/pm. Here are some examples:
It's 2:30 PM.
The time is six o'clock in the morning.
It's quarter past nine in the evening.
It's ten minutes to eleven at night.
Remember to always include whether the time is in the morning or afternoon/evening.
Knowing how to tell and ask for the time is an important skill when speaking English. By reviewing the vocabulary and structures in this article, you'll be able to confidently tell and ask for the time in any English-speaking context. Practice regularly to master this skill and improve your English fluency.
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