Telling time in English
Learn numbers is one of the first things you do when studying English. Using numbers to tell time is one of the first practical ways to use numbers.
Morning or Evening?
In the United States, Americans generally us AM and PM to distinguish between the morning and the evening/afternoon.
For example,
In some countries you might say 2h30; however, in the US, you would say 2:30 AM.
In some countries you might say 14h30; however, in the US, you would say 2:30 PM.
If you just say 2:30, we don’t know if you mean AM or PM.
This can be confusing when making appointments, so make sure to be clear and say AM or PM.
Time of Day Vocabulary
If you don’t want to say AM or PM, you can use time of day vocabulary to specify what time you are talking about.
- Morning = AM
- Noon = 12:00 PM
- Midday = 11:00 AM – 2 PM
- Afternoon = 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM
- Evening = 6:00 PM – 12:00 AM
- Midnight = 12:00 AM
Asking for the time
When asking for the time we usually say:
What time is it?
You can respond with:
It is…
When asking for the specific time for something we use:
At + time
For example,
- What time does the game start? It starts at 7:30 PM.
How to say the Date in English
When asking for the date in English there are several things you need to consider.[1]https://www.woodwardenglish.com/lesson/how-to-say-the-date-in-english/
Months of the Year
The months of the year are
- January
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- July
- August
- September
- October
- November
- December
Days of the Week
- Sunday
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
In general, for most people, weekdays are Monday – Friday and the weekend is Saturday and Sunday.
Ordinal Numbers
When talking about days in English we use ordinal numbers.
Ordinal numbers show the sequence of things. Normally, it ends in –th.
The only exceptions are 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.
- 1st – first
- 2nd – second
- 3rd – third
- 4th – fourth
- 5th – fifth
- 6th – sixth
- 7th – seventh
- 8th – eighth
- 9th – ninth
- 10th – tenth
- 11th – eleventh
- 12th – twelfth
- 13th – thirteenth
- 14th – fourteenth
- 15th – fifteenth
- 16th – sixteenth
- 17th – seventeenth
- 18th – eighteenth
- 19th – nineteenth
- 20th – twentieth
- 21st – twenty-first
- 22nd – twenty-second
- 23rd – twenty-third
How to say the years in English
In English, we usually divide the year in two and say the two parts separately.
For example:
- 1999 = 19 + 99 (nineteen ninety-nine)
- 2010 = 20 + 10 (twenty ten)
- 1872 = 18 + 72 (eighteen seventy-two)
- 2017 = 20 + 17 (twenty seventeen)
One of the exceptions to this is for the dates 2000 – 2009.
For example:
- 2001 ≠ 20 + 01 instead you say (two thousand and one)
- 2005 ≠ 20 + 05 instead you say (two thousand and five)
In addition, for the first decade after the century you say it a bit differently (“oh” + number)
For example:
- 1905 = nineteen + “oh” + five
- 1806 = eighteen + “oh” + five
How to ask for the date
There are several ways to ask for the date in English.
- What’s today’s date?
- What date is it?
- What’s today?
- What day is today?
You can respond with:
- It is…
- Today is…
- The date is…
- The date today is…
Examples of Date and Time
What is today’s date? It is January 6th, 2019.
When is the appointment? It is on Monday November 11th, 2019 at 5:30 PM.
References