“Tell me, what time is it now?” - This is perhaps one of the most frequently asked questions. And if they ask you in Russian, you will probably just look at the time and calmly say the number. What if you are asked to tell the time in English? How to respond correctly to a person who is looking at you with an expectant look? Of course, you can not tell the time, but simply point your finger at the clock, but why not learn how to say phrases about time, which will certainly be useful to you. It’s actually not at all difficult to do this, and today you will see for yourself by studying the topic “Time in English table clock”.
How to ask the time in English?
First, let's figure out how to say “what time is it” in English. Typically, for such a question, the following phrases are used that need to be learned:
You can also use the combination "what time" in questions about actions in the past, present and future:
Instead of “what time”, the question word “when” can also be used in a question:
Having figured out how to ask what time it is in English, let's study the possible answers.
Time in English: tables about hours
The question of what time it is in English can be answered in two ways:
- The first is equivalent to the Russian “fifteen minutes to such and such”, “20 minutes of such and such” and similar time designations. To use this option, you need to learn two time indicators. Let's look at the table of these prepositions with transcription:
Sentences about time must begin with the subject and predicate “it is” (this is), which are often shortened to “it’s”. They are used to construct a sentence, but in translation into Russian, as a rule, they are omitted. After them comes the number of minutes, then one of the time indicators above. The sentence ends with a number indicating the hour. Sometimes the time of day is indicated after the hour:
In general, the construction table looks like this:
| It | is | minutes | past/to | hour | Times of Day. |
Examples:
| It’s five past ten (in the evening). | Five minutes past ten (pm). |
| It's twenty six minutes to ten. | Twenty-six (minutes) ten. |
| It's ten to one. | Ten to one. |
Perhaps these examples only left you with even more questions. Let's look into them. In the first sentence, you might be confused by the translation, because instead of the indicated ten (ten) in Russian, it’s unclear where “eleven” came from. The fact is that they usually translate the time so that everything sounds clear in Russian. If translated literally, the sentence will sound a little different:
That is, in English they mean that at first it was 10 o’clock, and after that 5 minutes passed. In Russian, as a rule, we believe that it’s already 11 o’clock, and therefore, despite the fact that, in fact, the clock says 10:05, we call the next hour in order.
In the second example, everything seems to be quite logical. However, you may have noticed that unlike the first example, the second example contains the word “minutes.” The fact is that if a sentence mentions numbers that are not multiples of five, the presence of this word is simply necessary. Let's compare:
| Multiples of 5 | Not multiples of 5 |
| It's twenty past one. (It's twenty minutes past one.) |
It’s seventeen minutes past one. (Seventeen minutes past two.) |
| It's five to four. (Five minutes to four.) |
It's eight minutes to four. (Eight minutes to four.) |
By the way, speaking of minutes, one cannot fail to mention words that are in some way an exception. In English, as well as in Russian, thirty minutes is called “half”. Therefore, when half of something is meant, the word half is used in the sentence in combination with past, since 30 minutes still refers to the first part of the hour:
Also, English speakers don't usually use the phrases "fifteen minutes" or "fifteen to fifteen." They replace the word fifteen with “quarter”. In English this word is translated as “quarter”. It is used according to standard schemes, but in combination with the indefinite article a:
| It’s a quarter past nine. | Fifteen minutes after nine. |
| It's a quarter to two. | It's fifteen minutes to two. |
By the way, mentioning “to” and “too” it is worth noting that students often have doubts about these two words. Their pronunciation is the same, both pronounce the word as.
Note that some examples do not specify times of day. Everything here is very similar to the Russian language. After all, if it is clear from the context that we are talking about evening time, we do not focus on it. It is also worth noting that speech often leaves out everything except the time itself:
Everything seems clear with minutes, but what if we want to name the hour as an integer? In such cases, the word “o’clock” (hour) is added after the number, which can often be omitted. Please note that this word is written with an apostrophe, which in no case should be ignored:
It is not difficult to remember these adverbs, since they often appear in sentences outside of tense phrases.
If you are asked a question about when (what time) this or that event happened or will happen, you need to put the preposition at before the time, which plays the role of the Russian “in”:
If you want to say that an action (will be) done at some time, use the verb “by”:
In both cases, the time “twelve” can be expressed by nouns:
If you need to express that the action lasted from such and such a time to such and such, two prepositions are used at once: from (from) ... to (until) ...:
To say that some action lasted so many hours/minutes, the preposition for (“during”) is used:
Using the preposition in, you can say how long after the action occurred (will happen):
- But there is a second option, which, perhaps, you will like much more. The English language is rapidly becoming simpler, and therefore, in order not to load sentences with “halves” and “pastes,” one can now increasingly hear this particular way of expressing time. In order to use it you need to know two things:
- English counting to 60
- Time indicators a.m. and p.m.
We still won’t dwell on numbers, but it’s worth talking about pointers, because they often cause difficulties for language learners. In fact, everything is very simple. Both of these abbreviations originate from Latin and mean the following:
- a.m. – time before noon, that is, from 00:00 to 12:00;
- p.m. – time after noon, that is, from 12:00 to 00:00.
As you may have noticed, neither the first nor the second case uses a 24-hour clock. It's simply not common in English-speaking countries. Therefore, you should not ignore these symbols, otherwise you may be misunderstood when using the 12-hour format.
When memorizing them, you can use the following technique: the alphabet begins with the letter a, it symbolizes the beginning. Accordingly, a.m. implies the beginning of a new day, while p.m. its continuation. If this method doesn't work for you, come up with another one, but be sure to learn to distinguish between both pointers.
In principle, no rules are used in the method itself. You just need to name the numbers, but not those that are shown on the dial, but those that can be seen in the corner of your computer desktop, electronic watch and telephone.
If it's clear from the context that you mean morning, afternoon, or evening, you don't have to say the pointers:
Which option to use is up to you. In any case, they will understand you. The only thing is, give preference to the standard option if you need to write the time for any exam papers, because the second method is still less formal and is used exclusively in everyday communication. When writing your paper, consider what kind of English you are taught or what kind of English you are expected to use. Don't forget that instead of "past" and "to" in British, American English uses "after" and "of". Examples:
Seconds are also used to indicate exact time in English:
Numbers are not necessarily written in words. We did this solely for clarity, although the usual use of numbers is also relevant in English.
Time in English table clock: time dictionary
There are other words related to time that can be noted. They usually appear in sentences not to determine time, but knowing these words certainly won’t hurt:
Particular attention should be paid to the word “time”. Despite its importance, « "clock" and "time" in English can sometimes have nothing in common. Thus, “time” is used in questions about time, but in affirmative sentences this word is used independently and cannot name time. That is, despite its meaning “time”, it does not name time itself:
It can also mean "times":
The same can be said about the word “hour”. Despite the fact that in a sentence about time hours are mentioned with minutes and seconds, the word “hour” itself is used only with “for” (“during”) or when indicating the number of hours spent. The word is also often used as part of phraseological units:
| When specifying time | |
| I am listening to his songs for 2 hours now. | I've been listening to his songs for 2 hours now. |
| We had to spend 6 hours in the queue. | We had to stand in line for 6 hours. |
| With phraseological units | |
| I do love all the parts of Rush Hour. rush hour - rush hour |
I love all parts of the movie Rush Hour. |
| We were waiting for zero hour to start the operation too long. The time has come! zero hour - decisive hour |
We have waited too long for the decisive hour to begin the operation. The time has come! |
| I think his performance was just an amateur hour. amateur hour - when the action is performed not by professionals, but by amateurs |
I think his performance was simply amateurish. |
That's all. Studying this topic should not give you much difficulty. The main thing is to remember the indicator words. To reinforce the material, complete exercises on the topic and write your own examples. If some information has gone over your head, read this article again, paying attention to all the nuances. And, of course, try to interest yourself, because learning from your own will will not bring pleasure, and therefore no results.
1 Voiced words indicating days of the week and time of day, in English (with transcription)
Please note that the names of the days of the week are always capitalized.
2 Prepositions of time used with designations of days of the week and names of parts of the day
1. Preposition on is placed with the days of the week: on Sunday / on Monday.
2. Preposition in is placed with the names of the parts of the day, always with the definite article:
in the morning- in the morning;
in the afternoon– during the day;
in the evening- In the evening.
(But: at night- at night.)
3. In combinations of the names of the days of the week with words all, any, each, every, last, next, one, this the preposition is not used before them: last Monday- last Monday.
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3 Songs about the days of the week in English
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4 Song about the time of day in English
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5 Days of the week in English idioms
Blue Monday– (literally “sad Monday”) hard Monday, i.e. the first working day after Sunday
Monday feeling– (literally “Monday feeling”) reluctance to work after Sunday
Bloody Monday– (literally “bloody Monday”) student. first day of vacation, day of punishment for violators
Black Monday– (literally “black Monday”) 1) schools; decomposition the first day after the holidays; 2) church Black Monday
Hands Monday- the first Monday of the year, on which it was customary to give small gifts, especially in Scotland (handsel - a gift for good luck; money received from the first sale, considered “lucky”)
Fat Monday– (literally “well-fed Monday”) the last Monday before Lent in the Catholic and Anglican churches
Pancake / Shrove Tuesday– Tuesday of Shrovetide week (last day of Maslenitsa)
Black Wednesday– “Black Wednesday”, Wednesday September 16, 1992, when the British pound sterling fell sharply
Good/Holy/Spy Wednesday– rel. Wednesday of Holy Week, Wednesday before Easter, the day of betrayal by Judas
Black Thursday– exchanges. "Black Thursday", a collapse in stock prices that began on Black Thursday October 24, 1929 and took on catastrophic proportions on the subsequent Black Monday (October 28) and Black Tuesday (October 29). This stock market crash, also known as the Wall Street Crash, marked the beginning of the Great Depression.
Maundy Thursday– rel. Maundy Thursday (during Holy Week)
girl Friday– an office assistant, with a low official position and varied responsibilities; a young girl performing the duties of a personal assistant or secretary
man Friday– Friday, faithful servant (named after the servant in D. Defoe’s novel “Robinson Crusoe”)
Black Friday– “Black Friday”, a Friday on which financial or other misfortunes occur
Friday face- lean face, lean face
Friday fare– lean food
Good Friday– rel. Good Friday
Saturday night special– bargaining; Amer. special Saturday offer, heavily discounted product, Saturday sale price; cheap (slang)
Hospital Saturday– (literally “hospital Saturday”) the day of collecting donations for the maintenance of hospitals
Egg-Saturday– Saturday before Maslenitsa
a month of Sundays– (literally “a month of Sundays”) an entire eternity, a very long time
when two Sundays come together– verbatim when two Sundays meet, i.e. never
Sunday face- hypocritical look
Sunday's child– a child born on Sunday; lucky man
Sunday driver– a car driver who works only on Sundays; incompetent, slow driver
Sunday man- a person who is in society only on Sundays
Sunday painter– amateur artist; primitivist artist
Sunday best/Sunday clothes– the best (new, festive) clothes for special occasions
Sunday closing– shops are closed on Sundays
Sunday dinner– Sunday lunch
Sunday School- Sunday School
Sunday supplement– Sunday newspaper supplement
6 Time of day in English idioms
morning after– colloquial hangover, morning after drinking, carousing, etc.; decomposition period of sobering up after a rash act
morning news– morning news release
morning star– morning star, Venus
morning coat- business card
morning dress– a) home suit; b) business card
morning parade- military morning check
in the afternoon of one's life- at the end of life, in declining years
afternoon tea– hearty dinner with tea
yester-evening- last night
evening gown- Amer. Evening Dress
evening star- evening Star
evening colors- Amer. mor. flag lowering signal
evening gun- mor. signal shot before the evening changing of the guard
night out- a night spent away from home
to have a night off– have a free evening
small night– first hours after midnight (1–2 am)
in the dead of the night- late at night
throughout the night- all night long
night fell- night has come
white night– 1) a night without sleep; 2) white night
overcast night– cloudy night
starlit night- Starlight Night
wedding night- the wedding night
stormy night– stormy night
night-hawk = nightjar– night taxi driver; a person working or just staying awake at night
night-chair– chamber pot
night-bird– 1) night bird; 2) night reveler, night owl; night thief
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7 Games, songs and fairy tales in English about the days of the week (flash)
Origin of the names of the days of the week in English
In Latin, Romance and Germanic languages, the origin of the designations for the days of the week is associated with the names of the celestial bodies of the solar system: the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and the Sun (in turn, named after the Roman gods). Monday was proclaimed Moon Day, Tuesday Mars Day, and so on. In modern Italian, Spanish and French, the names of the first five planets have been preserved as the names of the days of the week. In English there is only Monday ( Monday), Saturday ( Saturday) and Sunday ( Sunday) have names equivalent to Latin ones. The remaining days in English also bear the names of planets, but already named after the gods of Scandinavian mythology: Tuesday ( Tuesday) named after Tiw, Wednesday ( Wednesday) in honor of Woden, Thursday ( Thursday) - in honor of Thor, and Friday ( Friday) – in honor of Freya.
Abbreviated names of days of the week in English
Monday - Monday/Mon/Mo
Tuesday - Tuesday/Tue/Tue
Wednesday – Wednesday / Wed / We
Thursday – Thursday/Thu/Th
Friday - Friday/Fri/Fr
Saturday - Saturday/Sat/Sa
Sunday - Sunday/Sun/Su
Cards and coloring pages with days of the week in English
English children's poems about days of the week and time of day
Monday's child is nice and slow,
Tuesday's child is go, go, go,
Wednesday's child is very funny,
Thursday's child is happy and sunny,
Friday's child is like a king,
Saturday's child can dance and sing,
Sunday's childe can stand on her head,
And count the ghosts under her bed!
Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for his living,
And a child that"s born of the
Sabbath day Is fair and wise and good and gay.
(Translated by M. Boroditskaya)
Who was born on Monday
He will be as white as a miller.
Who on Tuesday is fair.
And whoever is on Wednesday is unlucky.
Who on Thursday is an eternal tramp.
On Friday - kind-hearted.
Who on Saturday is good for business,
Sunday is good for everyone!
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Wash on Monday
Wash on Monday
Iron on Tuesday
Bake on Wednesday
Brew on Thursday,
Churn on Friday,
Mend on Saturday,
Go to meeting on Sunday.
Good night, sleep tight
Good night, sleep tight,
Wake up bright,
In the morning light,
To do what's right,
With all your might.
Day in English and Russian
There is no special word in English to denote the concept expressed by the Russian word day; the corresponding concept can be expressed in English descriptively as day and night or twenty-four hours.
The same period of twenty-four hours is divided differently in English and Russian. English speakers divide this period into three parts: morning(from 0 to 12 noon), afternoon(from noon to about 6 p.m., that is, before sunset) and evening(from sunset to midnight, after which it comes again morning). As for words day And night, then they indicate a different division of the day, not into three, but into two parts: light ( day) and dark ( night). Moreover the word day used in the same way as abbreviation day and night, that is, in the Russian meaning of a day.
In Russian, the picture is different - the day is divided into four parts, namely: morning (from sunrise to about 10 or 11 o'clock), afternoon (from 10 or 11 o'clock to sunset), evening (from sunset to about 10 or 11 hours) and night (between evening and morning, that is, the time when people sleep).
H. H. Andersen's tale about the days of the week in English
The days of the week once wanted to be free to get together and have a party.
The days of the week also wanted to get together and feast at least once.
But each of the seven days was so occupied, the year around, that they had no time to spare.
But each of them counted, they were so busy all year round that they could not manage it.
They wanted a whole extra day; but then they had that every four years,
They needed to wait an extra day, and this is only given out once every four years.
the intercalary day that comes in February for the purpose of keeping order in chronology.
– in February of a leap year; it's being used to even out the accounts
Today - about the time of day and about the night, at your request.
Time of day - dictionary:
Times of the day - vocabulary:
Morning - morning
in the morning - in the morning
day - day
daytime - daytime
afternoon - afternoon time, after noon
in the afternoon - after lunch, during the day
evening - evening
in the evening - in the evening (time from sunset to darkness)
night - night, evening (when it’s dark)
at night - at night
dawn - dawn, dawn
at dawn - at dawn
dusk - dusk
at dusk - at dusk
sunset - sunset
at sunset - at sunset
sunrise - sunrise, dawn
at sunrise - at dawn
noon - noon
at noon - at noon
midnight - midnight
at midnight - at midnight
tonight - tonight
last night - last night
tomorrow night - tomorrow evening
Sentences and short dialogues with the word night
Pay attention to the use of articles and prepositions with the word night.
Some animals sleep at day, and are active at night.
Some animals sleep during the day and are active at night.
December nights are the longest.
December nights are the longest.
When you go to bed, it is polite to say: "Good night!"
When you go to bed, it is polite to say "Good night!"
Does your baby sleep through the night yet?
Is your baby already sleeping through the night (without waking up)?
He works the night shift this week.
He's working the night shift this week.
Last night I went to bed very late.
Last night I went to bed very late.
It gets very cold at night time.
It gets very cold at night.
He felt better after he took aspirin, and by night his temperature was normal.
He felt better after taking aspirin, and by nightfall his temperature was
normal.
It"s been raining non stop for three days and two nights.
It rains non-stop for three days and two nights.
The party continued well into the night.
The party continued until late at night.
He took a night train to Boston.
He took the night train to Boston.
She dreams of him every night.
She dreams of him every night.
Call me if you need me, day or night.
Call me if you need me, day or night.
I spend my days and nights thinking about it.
I spend days and nights thinking about this.
I don't know the exact time he came home, but it was very late in the night.
I don't know exactly what time he came, but it was very late at night.
Good night Olivia! Sweet dreams!
- Good night, Olivia! Sweet dreams!
- Good night grandma!
- Good night, grandma!
I am very tired and ready to hit the hay now.
- I'm very tired and ready to go to bed now.
- Good night, talk tomorrow.
- Good night, we'll talk tomorrow.
to hit the hay- American idiomatic expression meaning "to go to bed"
What time do you go to bed?
- What time do you go to bed?
- On most nights, at 11 pm. Sometimes I stay up till midnight.
- Mostly at 11 pm. Sometimes I don't sleep until midnight.
Night Anna. It was good to hear about your progress in school.
- Good night, Anna. I was glad to hear about your success at school.
- Good night dad. Please call me again tomorrow night.
- Good night, dad. Please call me again tomorrow evening.
In Russian, by the word day we mean the daylight hours, between morning and evening; in English, the word day means:
- Day, hour period, from twelve o'clock at night to twelve o'clock the next night;
- Daylight hours, between morning and evening;
- The time you usually spend at work or school is the workday.
The word day, depending on the context, can have the following translation into Russian: day, day, working day; day, and in more rare cases: significant day, period of time, period of life.
Context
Examples of use:In some cases, electricity is available for only a few hours a day. - In some cases, electricity is supplied only for a few hours a day.
In addition, they had running water 24 hours a day. - In addition, tap water is supplied there around the clock.
It took us almost a day to get here. - It took us almost a day to get here.
January has 31 days. - There are 31 days in January.
These animals sleep during the day and hunt at night. - These animals sleep during the day and hunt at night.
We"re having to work a six-day week to cope with demand. “We have to work six days a week to cope with demand.”
She"s taking three days off next week. - Next week she has three days off.
The word night in English can mean:
- It is dark time of day;
- The period of time between the beginning of sunset and the moment you go to bed;
- An evening on which a special event occurs; Festive evening, party.
It gets cold at night. - It gets cold at night.
Let's go out on Saturday night. - Let's go somewhere on Saturday evening.
When"s the last night of your show? - When is the last night of your show?
The opening night of her new movie was a great success. - The premiere of her new film was a great success.
Opening night - Premiere, opening night
Parts of the day
Dawn- Dawn
This is the time when the sun rises or comes up (sunrise). - This is the time when the sun rises (sunrise).
Morning- Morning
This is the time from midnight to midday. - This time is from midnight to noon.
Midday- Noon
This is the middle of the day, also called “Noon” (12:00 hours). - This is the middle of the day, also called "noon" (12:00 o'clock).
Afternoon- Afternoon
This is the time from midday (noon) to evening. From 12:00 hours to approximately 18:00 hours. - This time is from noon to evening. From 12:00 to 18:00.
Evening- Evening
This is the time from the end of the afternoon to midnight. From approximately 18:00 hours to 00:00 hours. - This is the time from the end of the day until midnight. From approximately 18:00 to 00:00 hours.
Dusk- Twilight
This is the time when the sun sets or goes down (sunset). - This is the time when the sun sets (sunset).
Midnight- Midnight
This is the middle of the night (00:00 hours). - It's the middle of the night (00:00 hours).
Usage examples
Sentences and phrases in English with Russian translation, on the topic: Parts of the day.
She has guitar lessons Sunday morning. - She has a guitar lesson on Sunday morning.
You can have morning lessons, 15 hours per week, or morning and afternoon lessons, 25 hours a week. - You can study in the morning, which is 15 lessons per week, or in the morning and afternoon - 25 lessons per week.
From Monday 5 January to Wednesday 8 April 2018, end of morning lessons. - From Monday, January 5 to Wednesday, January 8, 2018, after morning classes.
The four morning lessons focus on the main areas of language learning: grammar and language work, reading and listening, communicative activities and speaking practice. - The four morning lessons focus on the main areas of language learning: grammar and language work, reading and listening, communicative activities and speaking practice.
Group lessons mixed running in mornings or afternoons, September to June (maximum 16 people). - Mixed group lessons run in the morning or afternoon, from September to June (maximum 16 people).
In Russian, by the word day we mean the daylight hours, between morning and evening; in English, the word day means:
- Day, hour period, from twelve o'clock at night to twelve o'clock the next night;
- Daylight hours, between morning and evening;
- The time you usually spend at work or school is the workday.
The word day, depending on the context, can have the following translation into Russian: day, day, working day; day, and in more rare cases: significant day, period of time, period of life.
Context
Examples of use:In some cases, electricity is available for only a few hours a day. - In some cases, electricity is supplied only for a few hours a day.
In addition, they had running water 24 hours a day. - In addition, tap water is supplied there around the clock.
It took us almost a day to get here. - It took us almost a day to get here.
January has 31 days. - There are 31 days in January.
These animals sleep during the day and hunt at night. - These animals sleep during the day and hunt at night.
We"re having to work a six-day week to cope with demand. “We have to work six days a week to cope with demand.”
She"s taking three days off next week. - Next week she has three days off.
The word night in English can mean:
- It is dark time of day;
- The period of time between the beginning of sunset and the moment you go to bed;
- An evening on which a special event occurs; Festive evening, party.
It gets cold at night. - It gets cold at night.
Let's go out on Saturday night. - Let's go somewhere on Saturday evening.
When"s the last night of your show? - When is the last night of your show?
The opening night of her new movie was a great success. - The premiere of her new film was a great success.
Opening night - Premiere, opening night
Parts of the day
Dawn- Dawn
This is the time when the sun rises or comes up (sunrise). - This is the time when the sun rises (sunrise).
Morning- Morning
This is the time from midnight to midday. - This time is from midnight to noon.
Midday- Noon
This is the middle of the day, also called “Noon” (12:00 hours). - This is the middle of the day, also called "noon" (12:00 o'clock).
Afternoon- Afternoon
This is the time from midday (noon) to evening. From 12:00 hours to approximately 18:00 hours. - This time is from noon to evening. From 12:00 to 18:00.
Evening- Evening
This is the time from the end of the afternoon to midnight. From approximately 18:00 hours to 00:00 hours. - This is the time from the end of the day until midnight. From approximately 18:00 to 00:00 hours.
Dusk- Twilight
This is the time when the sun sets or goes down (sunset). - This is the time when the sun sets (sunset).
Midnight- Midnight
This is the middle of the night (00:00 hours). - It's the middle of the night (00:00 hours).
Usage examples
Sentences and phrases in English with Russian translation, on the topic: Parts of the day.
She has guitar lessons Sunday morning. - She has a guitar lesson on Sunday morning.
You can have morning lessons, 15 hours per week, or morning and afternoon lessons, 25 hours a week. - You can study in the morning, which is 15 lessons per week, or in the morning and afternoon - 25 lessons per week.
From Monday 5 January to Wednesday 8 April 2018, end of morning lessons. - From Monday, January 5 to Wednesday, January 8, 2018, after morning classes.
The four morning lessons focus on the main areas of language learning: grammar and language work, reading and listening, communicative activities and speaking practice. - The four morning lessons focus on the main areas of language learning: grammar and language work, reading and listening, communicative activities and speaking practice.
Group lessons mixed running in mornings or afternoons, September to June (maximum 16 people). - Mixed group lessons run in the morning or afternoon, from September to June (maximum 16 people).