How to read time

In this lesson, we will learn:

• A digital clock can be read left to right as it shows [hours : minutes : seconds] and [AM/PM] in 12-hour clock time.
• An analog (analogue) clock is a circle with 12 big divisions for the hours with 5 smaller divisions each (total of 60 divisions) to represent the minutes and the hours for 12-hour clock time.

Notes:

• To read a digital clock:

• It shows all the digits for hours, minutes, and sometimes seconds
• Each different unit of time is separated by a colon
• It can also show whether it is AM or PM for 12-hour clock time

• When we talk about AM and PM , it actually means before midday (ante meridiem) and after midday (post meridiem)
• The previous day ends and the next day starts at midnight (12:00 AM)
• The middle of the day is at noon (12:00 PM)
• There are four different parts of the day, they can be generally defined:
• Morning: starts at sunrise, ends before noon (6:00 AM to 11:59 AM)
• Afternoon: starts after noon, ends at sunset (12:01 PM to 5:00 PM)
• Evening: starts at sunset, ends when it is dark (5:01 PM to 8:00 PM)
• Night: starts when it is dark, ends before sunrise (8:01 PM to 5:59 AM)


• To read an analog clock (or spelled as analogue clock):

• AM/PM is not specified. There are three hands on an analog clock to represent:
• Hours: the shorter, thicker hand
• Minutes: the longer, thicker hand
• Seconds: the longest and thinnest hand

• The analog clock is a circle with 12 equal and labelled divisions around it. These numbers (1-12) refer to the hours.
• Each of the 12 divisions is further divided into 5 equal (unlabelled) smaller parts (12×5=60 total divisions; there are 60 minutes in 1 hour). You can find out the number of minutes by counting by 5s if they land on any of the numbers (1-12).
• The number of seconds can be read in the same way as minutes. The only difference is that this hand is moving the fastest, because there are 60 seconds in 1 minute.
• The hands of the clock move in the clockwise direction to move forward (from top $\, \longrightarrow \,$ right $\, \longrightarrow \,$ bottom $\, \longrightarrow \,$ left $\, \longrightarrow \,$ back to top). The opposite/reverse direction (counter clockwise) is going backwards.