MyLeoNes™

Telling the time — Foreign languages, 7–10

You learn to read a clock and say when something happens, using the hour, minutes, half past, and quarter past or to.

The clock tells us when

A clock shows where we are in the day. The short hand points near the hour, while the long hand counts minutes around the face; on a digital clock, the numbers show hours and minutes directly. You can use both kinds to say when a lesson, meal, or game starts.

Why do we say the time?

People need to meet and share activities without guessing. “Later” can mean different things, but “at three o’clock” gives everyone the same point in the day. Learning clock language connects the moving hands or changing digits to real plans.

Read 4:45 step by step

Look at the digital time 4:45. The first number says the hour is four, and 45 says forty-five minutes have passed. You can say “four forty-five”, or “a quarter to five”, because fifteen minutes remain before five. Both expressions name the same moment.

The hour can be the next one

At 4:45, it feels natural to say “quarter past five” because the short hand is already close to five. But “past” tells how many minutes have gone after the current hour, while “to” tells how many remain before the next one. So 4:45 is a quarter to five.

Time outside school

You use time words to catch a bus, know when a programme starts, meet a friend, or set an alarm. A timetable may use 17:30, while someone speaking may say “half past five”. Learning both helps you connect real clocks, screens, and spoken plans.

Keep exploring

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