Falar as horas em inglês é um pouco diferente da língua

portuguesa. Aprenda como informar as horas no idioma neste

artigo!

Utilizamos as horas para várias ações no dia: para marcar

compromissos, organizar nossos horários de estudo e chegar na
hora certa às aulas. Se você sempre precisa perguntar as horas
para outras pessoas, é interessante que você também saiba este
passo tão importante para otimizar seu nível de inglês.

Mas antes, saiba algumas palavras que são utilizadas para medir o
tempo e que serão utilizadas durante seu aprendizado:

 Hour  – Hora
 Minute – Minuto
 Second – Segundo

Como perguntar as horas em inglês

Se você está sem um relógio no momento e a única saída para
saber as horas é perguntar para alguém, estas são as maneiras
mais comuns para tirar sua dúvida:

 What time is it? – Que horas são?

 What’s the time? – Qual é a hora?
 Have you got the time?  – Você tem horas?
 Could you tell me the time? – Poderia me dizer as horas?

Como falar as horas em inglês

Para aprender como falar as horas, você precisa saber o
vocabulário dos números em inglês. Para falarmos de horas in the
morning, utilizamos a sigla a.m. e para diferenciarmos das horas in
the afternoon  ou evening, utilizamos p.m. Além do mais, quando
falamos em horas em ponto, ou seja, sem os minutos, devemos
utilizar a terminação o’clock.

 12 a.m. –  It’s midnight.

 8 a.m. – It’s eight o’clock.
 12 p.m. – It’s midday or it’s twelve o’clock.
 2 p.m.  –  It’s two o’clock.
Existem duas maneiras de falar as horas e os minutos em inglês. A
primeira e mais fácil é simplesmente dizer os números para as
horas e minutos. Veja o exemplo:

 2:10 – It’s two ten

 8:12 –  It’s eight twelve
 5:15 – It’s five fifteen
 11:30  – It’s eleven thirty
No inglês, usamos algumas expressões como past, to, half  e
a quarter para expressarmos os minutos. Nos primeiros 30
minutos, dizemos past para expressar que os minutos se passaram
de uma determinada hora. Também usamos  half  para dizer “meia
hora” e a quarter para cada quinze minutos. Confira o exemplo:

 2:15 – It’s a quarter past two.

 7:20 – It’s twenty past seven.
 10:25 –  It’s twenty-five past ten.
 5:30 – It’s half past five.
 Outra construção de frase comum é uma que utilizamos também
no português: quando queremos dizer que “falta para”, utilizamos
o to. Veja:

 2:40 – It’s twenty to three.

 7:45 – It’s a quarter to eight.
 8:50 – It’s ten to nine.
 6:55 –  It’s five to seven.

Telling the time in English is a little different from the Portuguese

language. Learn how to tell time in the language in this article!

We use the hours for several actions in the day: to make

appointments, organize our study schedules and arrive on time for
classes. If you always need to ask other people the time, it's
interesting that you also know this very important step to optimize
your level of English.

But first, learn some words that are used to measure time and that
will be used during your learning:

 Hour – Hour
 Minute – Minute
 Second – second

How to ask the time in English

 If you are currently without a watch and the only way to find out
the time is to ask someone, these are the most common ways to
get your question answered:

 What time is it?  – What time is it?

 What's the time?  – What time is it?
 Have you got the time?  – Do you have hours?
 Could you tell me the time?  – Could you tell me the time?

How to tell the time in English

To learn how to tell time, you need to know the vocabulary
of numbers in English. To talk about hours in the morning , we use
the acronym am and to differentiate from hours in the
afternoon or evening , we use pm Furthermore, when we talk about
hours on the dot, that is, without the minutes, we must use the
ending o'clock .

 12 a.m. –  It’s midnight.

 8 a.m. – It’s eight o’clock.
 12 p.m. – It’s midday or it’s twelve o’clock.
 2 p.m.  –  It’s two o’clock.
There are two ways to speak the hours and minutes in English. The
first and easiest way is to simply say the numbers for the hours and
minutes. See the example:

 2:10 – It’s two ten

 8:12 –  It’s eight twelve
 5:15 – It’s five fifteen
 11:30  – It’s eleven thirty
In English, we use some expressions like past, to, half and
a quarter to express the minutes. For the first 30 minutes, we
say past to express that the minutes have passed from a given
time. We also use half to mean “half an hour” and a quarter for
every fifteen minutes. Check out the example:

 2:15 – It’s a quarter past two.

 7:20 – It’s twenty past seven.
 10:25 –  It’s twenty-five past ten.
 5:30 – It’s half past five.
Another common sentence construction is one that we also use in
Portuguese: when we want to say that “lack for”, we use to. Look:

 2:40 – It’s twenty to three.

 7:45 – It’s a quarter to eight.
 8:50 – It’s ten to nine.
 6:55 –  It’s five to seven.

Hours in English can be accompanied by some time expressions , for example:

 Day : day
 today : today
 yesterday : yesterday
 The day before yesterday: anteontem
 Tomorrow : tomorrow
 The day after tomorrow : after tomorrow
 morning : morning
 Afternoon: tarde
 Evening : night
 night : night
 Tonight : tonight
 midday : noon
 At noon : at noon
 Midnight : midnight
 At midnight : at midnight

Rules and Examples

How to ask the time in English?
To ask the time in English we use the following expressions:

 What time is it? (What time is it?)

 What is the time? (What time is it?)
 Have you got the time? (Do you have time?)
 Do you have the time? (What time is it?)
 Could you tell me the time? (Could you tell me the time?)

In British English , it is also common to use the expressions:

 What time do you make it? (What time do you have?)

 What do you make the time? (What time do you have?)

Another difference between American and British English is the sign used

between the hour and minutes:

Examples:

 2 : 10 – two ten (American English)

 2 . 10 – two ten (British English)

How to tell the time in English?

To tell the time in English, use “it is” or “it's” and the corresponding numbers
(hour and minute):

Examples:

 4:35 – It is four thirty-five.

 7:20 – It is seven twenty.
 Expressions used to tell the time

The expression “ o'clock ” is used to indicate the exact time:

Examples:

 3:00 – It is three o’clock.

 9:00 – It is nine o’clock.

The expression “ past ” is used to indicate the minutes before 30:

Examples:

 6:20 – It is six twenty ou It is twenty past six.

 8:10 – It is eight ten ou It is ten past eight.

The expression “ a quarter ” is used to indicate a quarter of an hour (15

minutes):

Examples:
 3:15 – It is three fifteen ou It is a quarter past three.
 8:15 – It is eight fifteen ou It is a quarter past eight.

The expression “ half past ” is used to indicate half an hour (30 minutes):

Examples:

 8:30 – It is eight thirty ou It is half past eight.

 11:30 – It is eleven thirty ou It is half past eleven.

Note that after 30 minutes, instead of the “past” expression, we use “ to ”:

Examples:

 8.45 – It is eight forty-five ou It is a quarter to nine.

 8.50 – It is eight fifty ou It is ten to nine.

Pay Attention!

We use the expressions am and pm to indicate when the English time occurs
before or after noon.

am – before noon

p.m. - after midday
Examples:

 9:00 – It's nine am or It's nine o'clock in the morning. (It is nine in the morning.)
 10:00 – It's ten pm or It's ten o'clock in the evening

See also: Numbers in English

Video ( Video )
Watch the video below and learn simple tips on how to tell time in English.

Exercises ( Exercises )
1. Write the time in English.

a) 7:00

See Answer

b) 5:10

See Answer
c) 7:50

See Answer

d) 8:55

See Answer

e) 10:30

See Answer

2. Write the numerals that represent the hours given in English.

a) It’s a quarter to ten.

See Answer

b) It’s half past seven.

See Answer

c) It’s eleven o’clock.

See Answer

d) It’s a quarter past five

See Answer

e) It’s eight ten

See Answer

3. Look at the clocks and write the hours in words.

a) It’s ______________________.

See Answer

b) It’s ______________________.

See Answer

c) It’s ______________________.

See Answer