Telling the time: How and When to Use in English

5:45 → It is (a) quarter to 6, because a quarter corresponds to 15 minutes. Note: you can say a quarter or simply quarter (without the article a) when you are stating what time it is. Example: 2:45 → it is quarter to 3 / it is a quarter to 3.

You could say it is (a) quarter past 6 if you saw 6:15 on the alarm clock, but here it says 5:45.

You could say 6:30 → it is half past 6, but the time shown on the clock is 5:45. Note: we don't use a before half.

12:30 → It is half past 12. Half corresponds to 30 minutes. Example: 7:30 → it is half past 7.

You can say I am in the middle of the room, which means you are in the central part of it, but we don't use this word to mean 30 minutes.

(To) have means to possess, but that's not what we need here!

6:50 → It is 10 to 7. Use to when you talk about the minutes before the hour. Example: 4:55 → It is 5 to 5.

We know that this symbol “:” can look like two points, but it is actually called a colon in English. Also, when telling the time, we don't simply read it out loud!

Minus is this symbol: “-”. We don't use this word to tell somebody the time. Example: 5 minus 2 equals 3.

10:25 → It is 10:25, without any preposition between the number of the hour and the minutes. Example: 8:50 → it is 8:50.

Use and before the final element in a list, but not between two numbers when telling the time. Example: I buy lemons and apples.

You could say it is 25 past 10 if you used a different structure, but not in this case.

01:30 → It is half past 1, since 30 minutes have passed since 1 o'clock. Example: 2:15 → it is (a) quarter past 2.

Use to when you are talking about the minutes before the hour, not after. Example: 4:50 → it is 10 to 5.

Use the expression o'clock when there are no minutes. Example: 5:00 → it is 5 o'clock.

11:00 → It is 11 o'clock. Use this expression when the minutes are :00. Example: 4:00 → it is 4 o'clock.

We say that we are on time when we arrive at the time we had planned (not early or late!), but we don't use this expression to tell someone the time. Example: my boss is always on time.

This is a common surname… but we don't use it to tell somebody the time! Example: Sinéad O'Connor was a famous Irish singer.

What time is it? is how we generally ask for information about the time. Example: -What time is it? -It's 10 to 8.

It is 3 o'clock. Example: 12:00 → it is 12 o'clock.

It is 10 to 8, or it is 7:50. Example: 11:40 → it is 20 to 12.