Telling the time is easy in English. We’ve seen the numbers in Unit 4 – here are the other words you will need:
o’clock /ə`klɔk/ it’s
past just coming up to
to just gone
half /hɑf / exactly
a quarter /ə`kwɔtə/
at at about by
To tell someone what the time is, we use it’s . . .: What time is it? – It’s ten o’clock
To say whensomething happens, we use at:
I’ll meet you both at ten o’clock
To give the latest time when something should happen, we use by:
I’ll be back home by ten o’clock (perhaps earlier)
Idioms
• in timemeans ‘before the latest time possible’
• on timemeans ‘at the scheduled time’ or ‘punctually’
• bags of timemeans ‘a lot of time’ or ‘plenty of time’
When we are not sure of the exacttime, we use about:
It’s about ten o’clock
Now let’s have a look at the clock:
Notice that:
• we say a quarter, but half(not‘a half’)
• we usually say ten past(etc.), not‘ten minutes past’ which sounds rather formal
• we alwayssay half past, never‘half to’
• in colloquial English we often say just teninstead of ten o’clock:
I’ll meet you at ten
• in colloquial English we often say half teninstead of half past ten I’ll meet you at half ten
half tenand half past tenbothmean 10.30!
• we have special words for 12.00 at night (midnight) and 12.00 in the day (middayor noon).
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12
o’clock
half past
6 11
7 10
8 9
1
five past
5
twenty-five past
2
ten past
4
twenty past3
a quarter past five totwenty-five to ten to
twenty to a quarter to
We use just goneand just coming up toto deal with times between the five-minute intervals on the clock face:
just gone = a short time after just coming up to = a short time before So:
10.16 it’s just gone a quarter past ten 10.19 it’s just coming up to twenty past ten
For very precise times, such as railway timetables and schedules, we use the 24-hour clock, giving two numbers:
10.56 ten fifty-six 13.12 thirteen twelve Notice:
12.00 twelve hundred 12.07 twelve oh seven
Exercise 1
Give the 12-hour clock equivalents for these 24-hour clock times – the first one has been done for you.
1 1316 It’s just gone a 6 1754 quarter past one.
2 1544 7 1602
3 0940 8 1435
4 2359 9 2226
5 0710 10 0330
Be careful! The 24-hour clock is common in official uses of English where precise times are important, but it is notused in ordinary situations in colloquial English:
I’ll see you at a quarter past five not ‘I’ll see you at seventeen fifteen’
Exercise 2
Write the times shown on the clock faces in the normal 12-hour system.
1 It’s ______________________________
2 It’s ______________________________
3 It’s ______________________________
4 It’s ______________________________
5 It’s ______________________________
6 It’s ______________________________
Dialogue 2
Candace and Jenny are about to go into the art gallery, but Jenny stops at the door.
CANDACE: What are you looking for, Jenny?
JENNY: My money, of course. Oh God, I can’t find it!
CANDACE: What are you worrying about? We don’t need to pay for tickets here – it’s free!
[Candace points at a sign over the door saying ADMISSION FREE]
JENNY: So it is! Great – we can look at loads of wonderful paintings for nothing!
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Language point 66 – ‘where . . . from?’,
‘where . . . to?’
In Dialogue 1 the assistant asks Adrian:
Where are you travelling from?
And in Dialogue 2 Candace asks Jenny:
What are you looking for?
and
What are you worrying about?
These are sentences that contain a PREPOSITIONused with a WH-WORD. In colloquial English we do not usually put any word before the wh-word (although formal English does). If there is a wh-word, we prefer it to be the first wordin the sentence. So we don’tsay:
‘From where are you travelling?’
‘For what are you looking?’
‘About what are you worrying?’
We move the preposition to the endof the sentence, leaving the wh- word to startthe sentence. Here are some more examples:
Who were you talking to?
not ‘To who were you talking?’
What shall I pay for this with?
not ‘With what shall I pay for this?’
What is she looking at?
not ‘At what is she looking?’
Idioms
• When something is freeyou don’thave to pay any money for it.
• Great!means ‘Wonderful!’ or ‘That’s good!’.
• loads ofmeans ‘a lot of ’ (COUNTABLEnouns); for UNCOUNTABLE
nouns we use a load of.
When shall I get these to you by?
not ‘By when shall I get these to you?’
Exercise 3
Aunt Aggie is rather deaf – every time you tell her something, she misses part of the information and asks a question. Write out her questions – the first one has been done for you.
1 YOU: Gerry’s looking for a new house.
AUNTAGGIE: What is Gerry looking for?
2 YOU: I’m writing a letter to Liz.
AUNTAGGIE: Wh_______________________ ?
3 YOU: The cat’s looking at some birds in the garden.
AUNTAGGIE: Wh_________________________ ? 4 YOU: Suzie’s worried about her exams.
AUNTAGGIE: Wh_________________________ ? 5 YOU: I’m going to the party with Hannah.
AUNTAGGIE: Wh_________________________ ? 6 YOU: Stuart plays football for England.
AUNTAGGIE: Wh______________________ ? 7 YOU: Miranda works for a film company.
AUNTAGGIE: Wh______________________ ? 8 YOU: Otto comes from Austria.
AUNTAGGIE: Wh_________________ ?
9 YOU: Terry and June live next door to the Simpsons.
AUNTAGGIE: Wh____________________ ? 10 YOU: I’ve got to be home by ten.
AUNTAGGIE: Wh_____________________ ? 1111
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Be careful! You may see prepositions in front of wh-words at the start of sentences in formal written English, but you won’t usually hear this in normal conversations and speech.
Remember that it is CORRECT to enda sentence with a
PREPOSITIONin English!
Dialogue 3
Gerry spots Sophie sitting on her own in the coffee shop, looking at her watch.
GERRY: Hello Sophie – who are you waiting for?
SOPHIE: Leasa. We were meant to meet up here at one, but I got here late. I’ve been waiting for about half an hour, but I’m wondering if I’ve missed her, or if she just didn’t show up. You haven’t seen her, have you?
GERRY: Not since yesterday, no.
[Suddenly Leasa arrives]
LEASA: Hi, you two! Sorry I’m so late, Sophie. I’ve been stuck in a traffic jam since a quarter to one. Have you been sitting here for ages?
SOPHIE: No, it’s all right – I haven’t been here long. I got here late myself, so I’ve only been here about twenty min- utes. And I had Gerry here to talk to.
LEASA: Let me buy us all coffee and some cakes!