An analogue clock is read in two steps: first the short hand for the hour, then the long hand for the minutes. With four landmarks (o’clock, quarter past, half past, quarter to) you can already read almost everything.
1. The two hands
The short hand shows the hour: it goes round the clock face in 12 hours. The long hand shows the minutes: it goes round in one hour. As the long hand moves, the short hand moves too, slowly, towards the next hour.
Try it: move the clock forward and see how the time is said.
three o’clock 3:00 or 15:00
2. The four landmarks
Long hand on the 12: it is something o’clock. On the 3: a quarter of an hour has passed. On the 6: half of the hour. On the 9: a quarter of an hour is still missing before the next hour.
Careful: with “to”, you already name the next hour. 3:45 is “quarter to four”.
3. Counting minutes in fives
Each number on the clock face is worth 5 minutes for the long hand: 1 is 5 minutes, 2 is 10, 4 is 20… In the first half hour we say “past”; in the second half we count what is left with “to”: 3:50 is “ten to four”.
ten to four 3:50
The clock face only has 12 hours: the short hand on the 3 can mean 3:00 (a.m.) or 15:00 (p.m.). On the 12, it is noon or midnight.
4. Your turn!
Read the clock and pick the right answer. Or the other way round: set the hands to the time asked.
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Make a sheet of clocks to fill in or print (page in French, times in English)
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