Ask what time it is, give a short answer, and distinguish the current time from the time of an event. Learn to ask politely and keep a simple conversation going.
There are two simple patterns for asking the current time: What time is it? and What is the time? The second is often shortened to What's the time? They mean the same thing.
In the direct question What time is it?, is comes before it. Use what time, not how time, in this pattern.
How to build it
What time + is + it? / What is (What's) + the time?
What time is it, Rosa? — It is 11:10.
What time is it, Rosa? — It is 11:10.
Addressing someone by name does not change the word order of the question.
Ask politely
When speaking to a stranger, you can begin with Excuse me and add please at the end. In the right situation, the simple question Do you have the time? asks someone to tell you what time it is.
Use have after do you. This is a ready-to-use simple pattern; complicated indirect questions are not needed here.
Excuse me, what time is it? — It is 3:20.
Excuse me, what time is it? — It is 3:20.
The opening attracts attention politely; the answer gives the current time.
Give a full answer
A full statement of the time begins with It is or It's. It does not refer to a person or object here: it is a grammatical subject.
In conversation, you can give just the time rather than a full sentence. If an exercise asks for a full answer, add it is or it's. Do not put at before the current time.
How to build it
It is / It's + time.
It’s 6:50 now.
It’s 6:50 now.
Even when the time contains several numbers, the verb form is is.
Give the time of an event
To say when an event happens, put at before a specific time. This is different from stating what time it is now.
A simple question about an event can follow the pattern What time is + event? A short answer can consist of at and the time.
How to build it
Event + is / starts + at + time.
The picnic is at 1:50.
The picnic is at 1:50.
At links the event to its time; the sentence does not tell us what the clock shows now.
Distinguish clock time from available time
Do you have the time? asks for the current time in a situation involving a clock. Do you have time to ...? usually asks whether someone has time to do something. The meaning also depends on the situation.
If you do not know the time, you can apologise and say you do not know. A short thank-you is appropriate after someone helps you.
Do you have time to read this note?
Do you have time to read this note?
This asks whether someone can spend time on an action, not what time it is now.
Focus on the conversation
This rule practises question-and-answer patterns and the time of an event. Using digits lets you focus on grammar without adding calculations.
Ways of saying exact hours, half hours, and quarter hours are covered separately. Here, they may appear as familiar content in an answer; time zones and long intervals are not needed.
What’s the time, Rob? — It is 10:20.
What’s the time, Rob? — It is 10:20.
Different question patterns lead to answers with the same function.
Common mistakes
Incorrect:How time is it, Chris?
Correct:What time is it, Chris?
Use what time to ask the current time in this pattern.
Incorrect:It are 8:40 now.
Correct:It is 8:40 now.
The impersonal subject it takes is.
Incorrect:The walk starts on 5:10.
Correct:The walk starts at 5:10.
Use at before a specific time when an event happens.
When the clock shows 00 minutes, say the hour and add o’clock. This names the time shown on the clock, not a duration: the word hours does not replace o’clock here.
A complete statement begins with It is or It’s. Both forms are appropriate. The apostrophe in o’clock is part of its spelling.
How to build it
It is / It’s + hour + o’clock.
It's six o'clock, and the room is quiet.
It is six o'clock, and the room is quiet.
6:00: o’clock comes after the number. Without context, it is not clear whether this is morning or evening.
It is four o'clock, and I am here.
It is four o'clock, and I am here.
The full form It is can also introduce a statement about the time.
Half an Hour: half past Before the Number
For 30 minutes, use half past and name the hour after which this half has passed. At 6:30, six o’clock has already begun, and seven o’clock has not yet arrived.
Do not rearrange the words. After half past, do not add o’clock: this expression already names the minutes.
How to build it
It is / It’s + half past + hour.
It is half past six, and the door is open.
It is half past six, and the door is open.
6:30 — half past six.
It is half past eleven, and I am hungry.
It is half past eleven, and I am hungry.
The number eleven names the hour that has already begun.
A Forward-Looking Hour in Some Time Expressions
To express 4:30, first identify the digital time: 4:30. English names four because half past counts the minutes after four.
The rule does not change after twelve: 12:30 is half past twelve, and the English formula names twelve.
At half past four, I am in the garden.
At half past four, I am in the garden.
The time is 4:30; English names four, the hour that has already begun.
At half past twelve, we are in the kitchen.
At half past twelve, we are in the kitchen.
This refers to 12:30; the number does not change to one.
From Clock Hands to a Statement
The long minute hand at 12 means 00 minutes, and at 6 it means 30 minutes. The short hour hand shows which hour to name. At half past, it is between two numbers: choose the one it has already passed.
For the current time, use It is / It’s. For the time of an event, add at before the time expression. This helps distinguish the time shown on a clock from a scheduled event.
The lesson begins at six o'clock.
The lesson begins at six o'clock.
An event at 6:00: at comes before the time expression.
Our break ends at half past one.
Our break ends at half past one.
1:30: the minute hand is at 6, and the hour hand is between 1 and 2.
Two Formulas Are Not the Only Ways to Tell the Time
Here we practise only exact hours and half past. In exercises, the words o’clock or half past may be explicitly required to practise these particular formulas. Other natural ways to say the same time are not therefore grammatical errors.
Digital readings of the hour and minutes are also possible; half past is especially common in British usage. In informal British conversation, you may hear half without past, but in these exercises we use the full formula. Quarters and forming questions about the time independently belong to separate rules.
We eat at six thirty.
We eat at six thirty.
A grammatical digital reading of 6:30; the target exercise may require the formula with half past.
At five o'clock, the room is empty.
At five o'clock, the room is empty.
The expression for an exact hour remains the same at the beginning of a sentence.
Common mistakes
Incorrect:The café opens at o'clock seven.
Correct:The café opens at seven o'clock.
In the expression for an exact hour, the number comes before o’clock.
Incorrect:Our call is at half to six.
Correct:Our call is at half past six.
The full formula for 6:30 contains past: the minutes are counted after six.
Incorrect:We eat at half past ten o'clock.
Correct:We eat at half past ten.
For 10:30, do not add o’clock to an expression that already includes minutes.
Incorrect:It is eight and half, and we are tired.
Correct:It is half past eight, and we are tired.
The word order and half is not used to name 8:30; the required order is half past + hour.
Quarter in time expressions means one fourth of an hour: divide sixty minutes by four to get fifteen. On a normal clock face, the long hand at 3 indicates fifteen minutes, and at 9 forty-five minutes.
Here we learn two patterns common in British English. Reading time numerically is also correct, but exercises requiring quarter need this particular pattern.
Our break begins at quarter past one.
Our break begins at quarter past one.
Quarter indicates fifteen minutes; one quarter of an hour has passed since one.
Past: the hour has already been reached
Quarter past names fifteen minutes after an hour already reached. In twelve-hour notation, use the hour before the colon without increasing it. For twenty-four-hour notation, first convert to the range one to twelve: subtract twelve from thirteen through twenty-three, and call 00 twelve.
Think of quarter past as fifteen minutes after the named hour. A digital time is useful for checking the meaning.
How to build it
hour in the range 1–12 + :15 → (a) quarter past + that hour
My train leaves at a quarter past ten.
My train leaves at a quarter past ten.
The reference hour is ten because ten has already been reached.
To: name the next hour
Quarter to means fifteen minutes remain until the named hour. A digital clock shows forty-five minutes past the current hour; name the next hour after to.
The same number after past and to gives different times. Counting after four and counting towards four, for example, lie on opposite sides of 04:00.
How to build it
HH:45 → (a) quarter to + next hour
The music stops at quarter to ten.
The music stops at quarter to ten.
This is 9:45: the time is counted towards ten.
One construction, one direction
In a complete statement of the current time, use It is or It’s before the time expression. Quarter and a quarter are both natural.
Quarter remains singular. Choose either past or to; together they do not make a correct time expression. Do not add o’clock to these patterns.
When reporting an event’s time, the expression can follow at in the sentence about the event. Time questions are covered separately.
How to build it
It is / It’s + (a) quarter + past / to + hour
It is a quarter to four, and the room is empty.
It is a quarter to four, and the room is empty.
The article a is possible; the direction here is only to.
The shop opens at quarter past eleven.
The shop opens at quarter past eleven.
In a statement about an event, at introduces its opening time.
Passing twelve and the topic’s scope
In the twelve-hour pattern, one follows twelve. For 12:45, name the next hour, one; for 12:15, keep twelve.
23:45 is a quarter to twelve, while 00:15 is a quarter past twelve. If the context does not establish day or night, add a natural clarification such as in the morning or at night.
Full hours and half hours are taught separately. We do not practise every minute, time zones or the full range of time questions here.
I finish work at quarter to one in the afternoon.
I finish work at quarter to one in the afternoon.
After twelve, the next reference hour is one.
The night bus leaves at quarter past twelve.
The night bus leaves at quarter past twelve.
The night context identifies twelve as midnight.
Common mistakes
Incorrect:The bell rings at quarter past to two.
Correct:The bell rings at quarter past two.
Past and to do not combine. For fifteen minutes after two, keep past.
Incorrect:Our class ends at quarters to four.
Correct:Our class ends at quarter to four.
We name one quarter of an hour: quarter, without a plural ending.
Incorrect:Dinner starts at quarter past seven o'clock.