Afternoon in English. Time and clock in English: How to ask or say the time in English

Time: 24-hour and 12-hour. If everything is clear with the distribution of digital indicators in the first case, then the second for us is more difficult topic. As you know, AM-PM-time are ciphers adopted mainly in America. But few people know that a similar system of calculating hours is also used in Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the Philippines. Therefore, we will consider what it is, so that in the future there will be no confusion.

Difficulties of simple school topics

Surely all children who study English at school come across these ciphers - AM-PM. Time in this case is calculated in numbers from 0 to 12, no more. That is, the first stage takes place before noon, and the second begins after 12 noon, when the next hour is again called the number 1. In order to avoid confusion, the terms AM-PM were introduced. The time in the first half of the day is indicated by the first of them, which means “before noon” in Latin, and the hours that come after are indicated by the second cipher.

Fun facts and coincidences

Many children, going through this topic at school, begin to get confused in these terms. In order for the child to better assimilate this information, you need to provide him with a simpler analogue of the interpretation of the 12-hour time reckoning. Think carefully, because in our country this system also works at 50%. More often than not, when we make an appointment in the afternoon, we say “9 pm,” although on the 24-hour system it would be 9 pm.

Teach children in simple

Also, the child will better navigate the American time system using standard wall clocks. They do not have digits with an equivalent of more than 12. Therefore, AM-PM time is a system that is much more acceptable for everyday household communication. However, it can create a little confusion if we are talking about about doing business and scheduling business meetings.

Research excerpts

If we examine the origin of these terms more deeply, then the word merediem is translated from Latin as the middle. That is, it turns out that it can mean both the noon border and the midnight one. Because of this, experts in the field came to the conclusion that the AM-PM time designation can be interchanged, which created even more confusion. As a result, strict rules have been adopted in the United States, according to which midnight is indicated as 11.59 PM, in the event that it refers to the end of the day. And in order to indicate the beginning of a new day, most often they say 12.01 AM. This practice takes place in the jurisdiction and in everyday life.

A small afterword

It is very important that in school years the child understood this simple theme V English language. So it will be easier for him to navigate in space, and in the future there will be no difficulties in work and other areas of life.

You can also explain AM-PM by making duplicate watches with your own hands. There will be nothing special about them except that the letters AM will be located in the center on some, and PM on others. In the morning, put the first hours on the baby’s table so that the brain fixes the “morning-light-AM” pattern. And in the afternoon, be guided by the time shown by the clock with the letters PM.

Everyone who is interested in learning English has had to deal with strange notation p. m. And a. m, and in general, wherever time is mentioned, for some reason only 12 hour format. Probably, for us living on a 24-hour pattern, this is really strange, but if you understand this phenomenon, everything will fall into place.

So, let's start with the Western countries adopted 12 hour time system. The idea is that the 24 hours that make up a day are divided into two intervals of 12 hours, which are denoted as a. m.(lat. Ante meridiem - “before noon”) and p. m.(lat. Post meridiem - “afternoon”). This format is predominant in the USA, Canada, Australia, France, Turkey and some other countries.

This tradition has ancient roots, since the 12-hour time format was used in Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. The Egyptians used a sundial for use during the day, and at night they used a water clock or clepsydra (translated from Greek - “water thief”). The Romans also used the 12-hour time format.

You need to remember that the time from 12 noon to 12 night denoted by two letters p. m. (read - pi em).

For example:

3:30 p.m. m. – Fourth half (of the day)

6:15 p.m. m. – Fifteen past seven (pm)

8:40 p.m. m. – Twenty to nine (pm)

Time from 12 noon to 12 noon denoted by two letters a. m.

For example:

1.00 a. m.– Hour of the morning

7:45 a.m. m. – Fifteen minutes to eight (morning)

But, native speakers for convenience in spoken English instead of a. m. and p. m, after the numbers indicating the time, add:

in the morning(morning) - (from 01.00 to 11.59)

in the afternoon(in the afternoon after noon) - (from 12.00 to 16.59)

in the evening(approximately from 17:00 to 21:59)

at night(in the evening after 22:00 and before 00:59).

But as I said, if official English is used, then it is usually used a. m. And p. m.

For example:

19:45 – fifteen till eight in the morning

2:00 – two o'clock in the morning

(Remember, if you want to say the time in hours without specifying minutes, then we say the number of hours and add - o'clock, as in the example above).

14:05 – two zero five in the afternoon

21:30 – nine thirty at night

And now the basic rules:

Today, once and for all, we will find out what am and pm mean in English, how these abbreviations are deciphered and how to correctly call time from them.

What is the difference between am and pm?

AM and PM are abbreviations used to indicate the time of day. Both of them came to English from Latin.

AM (ante meridiem) - before noon [hey um]
PM (post meridiem) - after noon [pi em]

They can be found in countries where the twelve-hour time format is adopted. These include Canada, USA, New Zealand and the Philippines. Together with the generally accepted 24-hour format, 12-hour is also used in the UK, Brazil and a number of other countries. They can indicate the time in any way. In other countries, the twenty-four-hour time format is adopted, which is familiar to us.

The 12-hour format divides the day (24 hours) into two segments of twelve hours.

We use a.m. when talking about the interval from 12 noon (midnight) to 12 noon (noon). That is, from 00:00 to 12:00.

For example:
It's two a.m. - Two in the morning (2:00).
It's five a.m. - Five in the morning (5:00).
It's ten a.m. - Ten in the morning (10:00).
He comes at 9 a.m. - He comes at 9 am.
The train leaves at 11 a.m. - The train leaves at 11 am.

p.m. We use it when we talk about the interval from 12 noon (noon) to 12 midnight (midnight). That is, from 12:00 to 00:00.

For example:
It "s two p.m. - Two in the afternoon (14:00).
It's five p.m. - Five pm (17:00).
It's ten p.m. - Ten in the evening (22:00).
We met at 11 p.m. - We met at 11 pm.
The train leaves at 11 p.m. - The train leaves at 11 pm.

Noon and midnight

Despite international standards designations of the 12-hour format - there is still no unambiguity between the designation of such insidious time as "noon" and "midnight".

Some indicate noon as "12 a.m." ("12 ante meridiem", or "12 o'clock until midday"). By this logic, midnight can also be referred to as "12 p.m." (12 post meridiem or 12 hours after the previous midday).

National maritime museum Greenwich suggests designating midnight as "12 o'clock at night" and noon as "12 o'clock in the afternoon". And many American certified style guides suggest designating midnight in the format 11.59 p.m. to emphasize the end of one day, but the beginning next day already designated as 12.01 a.m..

By the way, it is precisely because of the difficulties in understanding and determining time using the 12-hour format that the US Army has been using the 24-hour format since the Second World War, which avoids errors in navigation and marking the time of hostilities.

If in doubt about how to correctly indicate this time of day, discard the numbers and say in full:

Midday - noon
Midnight - midnight

For more information on how to talk about the time of day in English, see this article:

Comparison table of 24-hour and 12-hour time formats

How to write and use am and pm correctly?

There are several ways to write the 12-hour time format:

> Dotted: a.m. and p.m.
> No dots: am and pm
> In words: AM and PM

The most correct of the three is spelling with dots, but you can often find the other two. In any case, these designations are placed after the numbers, like the well-known o'clock.

Very often, the abbreviations am and pm are found on electronic clocks, in the working hours of the enterprise, and also in the schedule of transport or classes.

For example, if you see "The office is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.", it will mean that the office hours are from 9 am to 6 pm.

Also, be careful when scheduling a meeting and make sure that your interlocutor understands the agreed time correctly.

Example sentences with am and pm with translation

It is five fifteen AM- It's five fifteen in the morning.

It's eight thirty PM- It's eight thirty in the evening.

We must send this letter at 2 a.m.- We have to send this letter at two o'clock in the morning.

Tomorrow I'll wake up at 6 am, not later- Tomorrow I will wake up at six in the morning, not later.

Today I'm going to work up to 8 p.m.- Today I'm going to work until 8 pm.

It is not polite to call somebody concerning a job offer before or after working hours, or during weekends. Also it is better to make personal calls from 9 a.m. till 10 p.m.- It is impolite to call someone about work before or after work hours or during weekends. Also, it is better to make personal calls from 9 am to 10 pm.

Pharmacies in Prague are usually open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. and on Saturday from 9 a.m. till noon- Pharmacies in Prague are usually open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5:30 pm and on Saturdays from 9 am to noon.

The hotel offers 10 guest rooms, a secured car parking and a restaurant with working hours from 9 a.m. till 11 p.m.- The hotel offers 10 guest rooms, secure parking and a restaurant open from 9 am to 11 pm.

From 7 a.m. till 11 a.m. buffet breakfast is served for the guests of the hotel's restaurant on the first floor- From 7 am to 11 am, breakfast is served at the hotel's restaurant on the ground floor.

Children under 16 may not be hired for work from 8 p.m. till 6 a.m. Teenagers under 18 may not be hired for work from 10 p.m. till 6 a.m., or from 11 p.m. till 7 a.m.- Children under the age of 16 cannot be employed from 8pm to 6am. Teenagers under the age of 18 cannot be hired from 10pm to 6am or from 11pm to 7am.