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Hướng dẫn cách đọc giờ trong tiếng Anh đầy đủ và dễ hiểu nhất

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Hướng dẫn cách đọc giờ trong tiếng Anh đầy đủ và dễ hiểu nhất

How to read the time in English has been an obsession for many people just starting to learn this language. Understanding that, within the scope of this article, Nguyễn Tất Thành will guide you how to say the time in English. At the same time, providing additional dialogues so you can practice on your own right at home. Let’s find out now!

How to read the time in basic English

Below are detailed instructions on how to read the time in basic English.

Vocabulary about hours, minutes, seconds















Vocabulary

Transcription

Translate meaning

For example

Time unit

Hour

/aʊr/

Hour

It is five o’clock. (It is now 5 o’clock.)

Minute

/ˈmɪn.ɪt/

Minute

It is seven minutes past three. (It’s now 7 and a half minutes.)

Second

/ˈsek.ənd/

Second

It is one second to eight. (One more second is 8 hours.)

Words indicating time in hours

O’clock

/ˈoʊk.lɒk/

The time is right

The meeting starts at ten o’clock. (The meeting starts at 10 o’clock.)

Past

/pɑːst/

Than

It is ten past seven. (It is now 7:10 a.m.)

Big

/tuː/

Least

It is five to nine. (It is now 9 minutes to 5.)

Quarter

/ˈkwɔː.tər/

15 minutes (1/4 of 1 hour)

It is quarter past seven. (It is now 7:15 a.m.)

Half

/hɑːf/

30 minutes (1/2 of 1 hour)

It is half past seven. (It is now 7:30 a.m.)

Basic sentence structure

In English, there are 3 common ways to read the time: right time, more time, and less time. Each reading method will have a different basic sentence structure.

How to read correct/round time

The correct hours are the starting hours (0 Minutes) of a new time frame (60 minutes). For example, 3 hours 00 minutes, 5 hours 00 minutes,…

How to read: Number of hours + “o’clock”

In there:

  • The number of hours is equal to normal counting: One, two, three, four…

  • O’clock: /əˈklɒk/

For example:

How to read more hours

More hours are hours with no more than 30 minutes. For example, 10:10, 8:55, etc. There are 2 ways to read:

Method 1: Hour + minute

In which: Minutes and numbers are read using normal numbers.

For example:

Method 2: minute + “past” + hour

In which: Minutes and hours are read by counting.

For example:

Poor way of reading time

Off-hours are hours where the number of minutes about to change to a new time frame is greater than 30 minutes. For example, 5 hours 37 minutes, 8 hours 47 minutes,…

The reading will be: Number of minutes + “to” + (number of hours +1)

In which: Minutes and hours are read by counting.

For example:

How to read special hours

When reading hours with minutes equal to 15 and 45, people will use: (a) quarter past/to.

For example:

When reading hours with 30 minutes, people often use: half past + hour.

For example:

Note:

  • When reading the time, people often omit the “and” between the hours and minutes.

  • When reading the hour, people often read the minutes first, then the hours next.

Instructions on how to read the time in basic English. (Photo: Internet Collection)

Instructions on how to read 24-hour and 12-hour time

In English, there are two popular time reading systems: the 24-hour system and the 12-hour system. Each system will have different ways of reading the time.

How to read time according to the 24-hour system

In the 24-hour system, each day is divided into 24 hours, starting from 0:00 to 23:59. Hours are read numerically, from 0 to 23.

For example:

How to read the time according to the 12-hour system

In the 12-hour system, each day is divided into 12 hours, starting from 12:00 to 11:59. Hours are read by number, from 1 to 12. To distinguish morning and afternoon, people often add “am” (ante meridiem) for morning and “pm” (post meridiem) for afternoon.

For example:

Instructions on how to read 24-hour and 12-hour time. (Photo: Internet Collection)

How to ask and answer the time in English

This section will provide you with how to ask and answer the time in English, and you can also practice with some common conversations about the time in English here.

Instructions on how to ask for the time in English

There are many ways to ask for the time in English, depending on the context and level of formality of the communication.

How to ask politely:

  • What time is it? (What time is it?)

  • Could you tell me the time, please? (Can you tell me what time it is?)

  • Do you happen to have the time? (Do you know what time it is?)

How to ask informally:

In addition, you can also use some other expressions to ask for the time in English:

  • Excuse me, what time is it? (Sorry, what time is it?)

  • Can you tell me the time, please? (Can you tell me what time it is?)

  • What time is it, please? (Please tell me what time it is?)

Instructions on how to ask for the time in English. (Photo: Internet Collection)

Instructions on how to answer questions about time in English

How to answer questions about time in English also depends on the time system you use (24-hour system or 12-hour system). You can review the detailed instructions on how to read the time in English that Nguyễn Tất Thành shared above.

Besides, you also need to note that, when answering the time according to the 12-hour system, you need to add the word “am” or “pm” to distinguish morning and afternoon. Furthermore, when answering the bad hour, you need to read the number of minutes first, then the number of hours next.

Some common conversations about hours in English

Below are some common conversations about time in English that you can practice at home:

1. Scene: Two friends are talking to each other.

Character 1: What time is it? (What time is it?)

Character 2: It’s 12:00 pm (It’s now 12 noon.)

Character 1: Oh, I need to go now. It’s time for my lunch break. (Oh, I have to go. It’s my lunch break now.)

Character 2: Okay, see you later. (Okay, see you later.)

2. Scene: A person is asking for train times in the station.

Station staff: Excuse me, what time is the next train to London? (Excuse me, what time is the next train to London?)

Train rider: It’s 10:00 am.

Station staff: Thank you. (Thank you.)





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3. Scene: A person is asking for an appointment time with friends.

Person 1: What time are we meeting for dinner tonight? (What time are we meeting for dinner tonight?)

Person 2: We’re meeting at 7:00 pm (We meet at 7:00 pm.)

Person 1: Okay, I’ll see you then. (Okay, I’ll see you then.)

4. Scene: A person is asking about the business hours of a store.

Customer: Excuse me, what time does the store open? (Excuse me, what time does the store open?)

Store staff: We open at 9:00 am and close at 6:00 pm (We open at 9 am and close at 6 pm.)

Customer: Thank you. (Thank you.)

5. Scene: A person is asking about the class time of a class.

Student: What time does class start? (What time does class start?)

Teacher: Class starts at 9:00 am and ends at 12:00 pm (Class starts at 9 am and ends at 12 noon.)

Student: Okay, thank you. (Okay, thank you.)

6. Scene: A person is asking for the meeting time.

Person 1: What time is the meeting? (What time is the meeting?)

Person 2: The meeting is at 10:00 am in the conference room. (Meeting at 10 a.m. in conference room.)

Person 1: Okay, I’ll be there. (Okay, I’ll come.)

Some common conversations about hours in English. (Photo: Internet Collection)

Hopefully these conversations will help you get more ideas for communicating about time in English. It should be noted that the above are just some typical conversations, you can refer to and be more creative to have conversations suitable to your context.

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  3. Seconds in English: From basic to advanced & Good learning tips

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    • Learning content: What do you need to learn?

    • Study time: How much time will you spend each day studying?

    • Learning methods: How will you learn?

Making a study plan will help you manage your time and study effectively.

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  • Practice regularly: To learn English effectively, you need to practice regularly. You can practice listening, speaking, reading, and writing in many different ways such as watching movies, listening to music, reading books, writing in a diary,…

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So, through this article you have a better understanding of how to read the time in English and effective tips for self-studying English at home. To easily practice with the above sample conversations, Nguyễn Tất Thành encourages you to save this article so you can use it immediately when needed. Hope you study well!

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