What does am and pm mean on the clock. Time and clock in English: How to ask or say the time in English? How to ask the time in English

Let's learn how to understand and determine the time in English language am and pm are correct. Many countries use the 12-hour version of the day in their designations. And in the CIS countries it is used for 24 hours, that is, 17-18 hours and so on.
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In Australia, USA, Canada, the 12-hour designation is used. They are more comfortable with it colloquial speech. And it also correlates with the 12 hour dial.

So, how does AM and PM stand for? It's simple: AM from Latin is pronounced as "ante meridiem" - before noon 00:00 - 12:00, PM - "post meridiem" - after noon 12:00 - 00:00. Or in other words, AM is all night after midnight and morning until noon, but PM is the time from noon to midnight (all day after noon and all evening until midnight).

Now let's take a look at some examples:
12 a. m. - midnight
12 p.m. m. - noon
5 a. m. - 5 am
5 p. m. 5 am
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We say simply - twenty minutes to eight, in English they also say this: 03:20 - Three twenty (three twenty), 04:55 - Four fifty-five (four fifty-five).
If you want to say exact time without minutes, then say this: 12:00 - Twelve o'clock (twelve hours), that is, the word o'clock is added.

Note that the word o'clock can be used to indicate time with the words morning, evening, night, for example, in the morning or in the evening. Example:
I'll be here only at 9 p.m. I won't be here until 9pm.
I'll be here only at nine o'clock. Or: I'll be here only at 8.00 o'clock in the morning.

The construction of the sentence occurs with the formal subject it, because in sentences it must be in English. Examples:
It is (or It's) three twenty-five AM. - It's three twenty-five in the morning.
It is eight thirty PM. - It's eight thirty in the evening.

Our people sometimes say "eighteen o'clock" which means 6 pm. And in America, such designations are used by the military or technicians, because accuracy is important to them. These designations are also called military time - war time. Consider one interesting note- if you want to say 18:00, eighteen hundred or literally "eighteen hundred" would be more correct.

Time with 30 minutes can be said so with the use half past or "half after":
It is half past seven - now half past eight.

If you need to say "it's 3:15 now", then it's easier to do it like this with phrases a quarter past- a quarter after or a quarter to- quarter to. A quarter is 60 divided by 4 and we get exactly 15. Example:
It's a quarter past eight. - It's a quarter past nine. Literally, it will be like this: it is now a quarter after eight.
It's a quarter to nine. - It's a quarter to nine.

Other time options are also indicated with to and past. Example: It is ten past eight a.m. It's 8:10 am now. It's twenty-five to seven p.m. “It's twenty-five to seven now.

Also take a test to consolidate the material

Hello, dear readers of the blog site. It seems to be a question, but how often does it arise. For example, when working with English-language services, it is always difficult for me to immediately remember what time it is 10.00 PM in terms of our time feeling (do you mean morning or evening?). And in general, where did these AM and PM come from, who needs them and why not use only the 24-hour format?

Well, here the question is probably from the same area as the use right-hand traffic vehicles in some countries - it just so happened and nothing can be done here. You just need to deal with these a.m.'s once and for all. and p.m. (to get into your head the relationship with the 24-hour ruler), well, or at worst, write yourself a cheat sheet (if, like in my head, nothing lasts for a particularly long time). Where to write? Yes, right here, i.e. on your blog pages. So I will do...

Are we really that far away from the 12 hour time format?

The time format using AM and PM is widespread not only in the bourgeoisie, sometimes its echoes can be observed in the Runet space (mainly in localized bourgeois projects). For example, known to many bloggers, he suggests choosing the time for sending letters to subscribers based on the 12-hour format, and not the 24-hour one:

It seems that the time zone also indicates that here a.m. and p.m. do not understand, and the interface is translated into Russian. No, habit is second nature. And how do I understand 11:00 am - 1:00 pm? Is it from 11 am to 1 pm or from 11 pm to 1 am? You need to google, and so every time, to know for sure ...

Although, I, probably, in vain so attacked the bourgeoisie with their AM and PM. If you think about it, then you and I also half live in a 12-hour world. For example, when they ask you the time, you don’t answer that it’s now fifteen minutes to eighteen, but say that it’s fifteen minutes to six, and in the evenings or mornings - a person is able to determine for himself. In this regard, we are the same.

At the same time, in Russian-language texts, in most cases (yes, always) the 24-hour time scale is used. But here we have an arrow clock, again in a 12-hour format. It would probably be difficult to fit 24 hours there and it would look overloaded.

But our digital clock is again 24-hour, while the Americans have it, judging by the films, 12-hour with the indication a.m. and p.m.

Oh, how everything in life is messed up, if you think about it.

Decoding and nuances of using A.M. and P.M.

But this is all verbiage, and what does AM and PM mean?(how these abbreviations are deciphered). It turns out that these abbreviations are Latin and literally mean the following:

AM - before noon
PM - after noon (this, by the way, is easier to remember, because the first letters in Russian and Latin name match)

This can be quite well illustrated by the following two pointer chronometers:

Then PM is evening and AM is morning. Everything seems to be simple, but there is a small problem. It's all good until it's over before noon or midnight, i.e. rendezvous cycles a.m. and p.m.

In general, it turns out that different countries, accepting a 12-hour cycle, these moments can be celebrated in different ways ( and 12 p.m. and 12 a.m.). Thus, there are discrepancies (such as "the glass is half full or it is half empty"). For me, it would be more logical to use not 12 p.m., but 0 p.m., which would be much more logical, but the bourgeoisie knows better. The result is this, in my opinion, absurdity:

After 12 a.m. goes 01a.m. etc. And after 12p.m. goes 01p.m. I personally have a hard time getting used to it (how can a 1 come after 12?). Americans generally mark midnight in documents as 11:59 p.m., and noon as 12:01 a.m., so that there are no legal incidents and discrepancies. They are kinda weird...

AM and PM to 24 hour conversion table

Well, the full plate of correspondence between 12 and 24-hour time format will then look like this:

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Time formats

We live in a country where 24 hours of the day are used to indicate time. This format is called 24-hour. But there are also countries that use only 12 hours a day. On the dial, only 12 hours are used.

What's also interesting is that most people who live by the 24-hour clock tend to use only 12 hours more often. For example, we do not say “I will be at 19”, but “I will be at 7” or “I will be at 7 pm”.

Where did the two formats come from? It is clear that 24 hours is the length of a day. But why 12 hours and not 4 or 6? The format, when the day is divided into two parts of 12 hours, came from ancient world. Mesopotamia, Rome and Ancient Egypt They used a sundial during the day and a water clock at night. Some countries did not change the knowledge gained by their ancestors, but left the 12-hour format.

As for the USA, 2 formats are appropriate there. The most commonly used is 12 hours, but if you say, for example, "20 hours", then you will probably not be understood, since 24 hours is a military format.

Time notation in English

Which countries use 12 and 24 hour format? AT English speaking countries most often use the 12-hour format, so abbreviations were originally invented. The designation of time in English is pm (from the Latin Post meridiem - "after noon") and am (from the Latin Ante meridiem - "before noon"). And if the Americans somehow understand you, then another English speaking world will prove that there is no more than 12 hours. A.m. consumed from 12 noon to 12 noon, and for p.m. it's the other way around. For example, if you want to say 15:00, it would be 3pm and 1am would be 1am. The designation of time in English is just that.

It is rather difficult to memorize these designations without constant repetition. Do you want to know how easy and simple it is to save them in memory? All you have to do is set your phone, tablet or computer (whichever you use most) to twelve hour clock. It usually takes a couple of days to get used to it. Most people who have switched to the 12-hour-a-day format use it that way.

And what about the indication of time in English on the clock? Like ours, the dial also has 12 hours. And there is a difference in electronic media. All electrical devices use twelve hours, but we have 24.

Which countries use 12 and 24 hour format?

As mentioned above, the world is conditionally divided into countries that use twenty-four hours to indicate time, and countries where the 12-hour format is used.

Countries with 24-hour format include most of world, for example, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Japan. In Australia, New Zealand and the United States (that is, in countries where the time designation is in English) 12 hours are used in a day. This is proven by the fact that English speakers are not comfortable saying, say, "16 o'clock".

There are also countries where both options are acceptable. These are Greece, Brazil, France, Great Britain, Albania and Turkey.

But what about Canada? As you know, Canada has two official languages- English and French. The country is divided according to the linguistic criterion into regions - provinces where French is spoken, and territories with predominant English. All of Canada uses the 12-hour format because it was a British colony for a long time, but in the province of Quebec, people are more likely to use the 24-hour format.

Conclusion

So, we figured out that there are two time formats - 12 and 24-hour. Often in English they use 12 hours, for which they were invented special abbreviations. The designation of time in English occurs with the help of four letters - am (before noon) and pm (after noon). To better remember where, what and when to use, you need to set the twelve-hour time format on your phone, tablet or computer. If you want to travel to a country that uses this format, such as the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, it is worth preparing in advance to avoid misunderstandings.

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 understand 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 in American system time according to standard wall clock. They do not have digits with an equivalent greater than 12. Therefore, AM-PM time is a system that is much more acceptable for everyday everyday communication. However, it can create a little confusion if we are talking 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, the United States adopted strict rules, for 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 in English. 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 accepted 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, as the 12-hour time format was used in Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. The Egyptians used sunnier hours for use during the day, and at night, a water clock or clepsydra was used (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:

To say that now is so much time, you need to start with the words: It is
	It is three o'clock a.m. - it's three o'clock in the morning.
If we want to say that at some time we are doing something, we use the preposition at :
	I will phone you at five minutes past 10 – I'll call you at five past nine
Use the preposition - pastwhen talking about minutes from the first to half an hour. (minute hand from 01 to 30) and say how many minutes have passed since the full hour:
	It is fifteen minutes past two fifteen minutes past two(literally: fifteen minutes after two). Often the word minutes in the sentence is omitted - It is fifteen past two
Use the preposition - to when talking about time after half an hour (from 31 to 59 minutes): It is six minutes to five - Without six minutes of a quarter (literally - six minutes to five)
	It is fifteen minutes to eight A quarter to eight(literally - fifteen minutes to eight)
To denote "a quarter of an hour", i.e. 15 minutes the word quarter is used. This concept can be used both before and after half an hour and it is always used with indefinite article"a":
	It is a quarter past three Fifteen minutes past four
Half an hour is denoted by the word - half. given word used without an article:
	It is half past two Half past two

Portal for the student. Self-training

Are we really that far away from the 12 hour time format?

Decoding and nuances of using A.M. and P.M.

AM and PM to 24 hour conversion table

Time formats

Time notation in English

Which countries use 12 and 24 hour format?

Conclusion

Difficulties of simple school topics

Fun facts and coincidences

Teach children in simple

Research excerpts

A small afterword

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