When you want to know the time at the moment you are speaking, you say 'What time is it?' or 'What's the time?'

'What time is it?' – 'Three minutes past five.'

'What's the time now?' – 'Twenty past.'

When asking about the time of an event, you usually use when.

'When did you come?' – 'Just after lunch.'

You can also use 'What time'.

'What time did you get back to London?' – 'Ten o'clock.'

'What time do they shut?' – 'Half past five.'

When you tell someone the time, you say 'It's...'.

It's ten to eleven now.

Note the following points:

In the United States, the 24-hour clock is not very common, and timetables use the 12-hour system, with a.m. and p.m.

Come round at five o'clock.

I must leave by eight o'clock.

Note that when using o'clock, people usually write the number as a word (for example five), not a figure ('5').

I used to get up every morning at six.

It's twenty past seven.

He returned to the house at half past four.

He got to the station at five to eleven.

You don't normally use the word 'minutes' in these expressions.

Speakers of American English often use after instead of 'past', and of instead of 'to'.

It was twenty after eight.

At a quarter of eight, he called Mrs. Curry.

It was twenty-four minutes past ten.

We left Grosvenor Crescent at five minutes to ten.

'What time is it?' – 'It's eighteen minutes past.'

It's quarter past.

'What time's break?' – 'Twenty-five to.'

If the number of minutes is less than 10, many people say '0' as oh before the number of minutes. For example, 7.05 can be said as seven oh five or seven five.

You put a full stop after the hour when writing a time like this. Some people, especially Americans, use a colon instead.

At 6.30 each morning, the partners meet to review the situation.

The door closes at 11:15.

It was about four o'clock in the afternoon.

They worked from seven in the morning until five at night.

You can also add a.m. to indicate a time between midnight and midday, or p.m. to indicate a time between midday and midnight. These abbreviations are not generally used in conversation in British English.

The doors will be opened at 10 a.m.

We will be arriving back in London at 10.30 p.m.

Don't use 'a.m.' or 'p.m.' with 'o'clock'.

The commonest preposition used to show the time when something happens is at.

The taxi arrived at 7.30.

They'd arranged to leave at four o'clock.

I'll be back at four.

Other prepositions are used in the following ways to show when something happens:

It's a very quiet place with little to do after ten at night.

I was woken before six by the rain hammering against my bedroom window.

I have to get back to town by four o'clock.

I work until three.

I didn't get home till five.

He had been up since 4 a.m.

You can show that a time is approximate by using about or around in front of the time.

We were woken up at about four o'clock in the morning.

The device, which exploded at around midnight on Wednesday, severely damaged the fourth-floor bar.

At is sometimes left out.

He left about ten o'clock.

In conversation, people sometimes show an approximate time by adding '-ish' to the time.

Shall I call you about nine-ish?

You can say that something happens just after or just before a particular time. You can also use shortly after or shortly before.

We drove into Jerusalem just after nine o'clock.

He came home just before six o'clock and lay down for a nap.

Shortly after nine, her husband appeared.

When saying what the time is or was, you can also use just gone in British English, or just after.

It was just gone half past twelve.

It was just after 9pm on a cold October night.

The main periods of the day are:

You can use the prepositions in or on with words referring to periods of the day. You can also use last, next, this, tomorrow, and yesterday in front of these words to form adverbial phrases.

I'll ring the agent in the morning.

On Saturday morning all flights were cancelled to and from Glasgow.

I spoke to him this morning.

He is going to fly to Amiens tomorrow morning.

For detailed information on how to use these words and which prepositions to use with them, see Usage entry at each word.

There are also several words that refer to the short period when the sun rises or sets:

You use at with these words when showing that something happens during the period they refer to.

At dawn we landed in Tunisia.

Draw the curtains at sunset.

The adverbs and adverbials in the two lists below are used to show that something happened in the past. Note that all these adverbials can be put after the first auxiliary in a verb phrase.

The following adverbials can be used with past tenses and with the present perfect:

It wasn't very successful in the past.

Her husband had recently died in an accident.

The following adverbials can be used with past tenses but not normally with the present perfect:

The cardboard folder had been blue originally but now the colour had faded to a light grey.

The world was different then.

Before is not used with the present perfect when simply showing that a situation existed in the past. However, it is used with the present perfect to show that this is not the first time that something has happened.

I'm sure I've read that before.

The tenses used with already are different in American English and British English.

You use the following adverbials when referring to the future:

We'll be free soon.

I'll remember in a minute.

In future when you visit us you must let us know in advance.

These adverbials are usually put at the end or beginning of the clause.

'Momentarily' is used when referring to the future in American English, but not in British English.

You use the following adverbials to contrast the present with the past or the future, or to show that you are talking about a temporary situation in the present:

Biology is their great passion at the moment.

Well, we must be going now.

These adverbials are usually put at the end or beginning of the clause.

Note that today is used, mainly in newspapers and broadcasting, to refer to the present time in history as well as to the day on which you are speaking.

...the kind of open society which most of us in the Western world enjoy today.

Note that already is used when referring to a present situation, as well as when referring to the past.

I'm already late.

Clock times and periods of the day can be used as modifiers.

Every morning he would set off right after the eight o'clock news.

He was usually able to catch the six thirty-five train from Euston.

But now the sun was already dispersing the morning mists.

People often refer to a train or bus by the time it leaves a particular place. They talk, for example, about the six-eighteen, meaning 'the train that leaves at six-eighteen'.

He knew Alan caught the seven-thirty-two most days.

Possessive forms of periods of the day can also be used as modifiers, when talking about a particular day.

It was Jim Griffiths, who knew nothing of the morning's happenings.

They are also used when saying how long an activity lasts.

He still had an afternoon's work to get done.

You can use a time adverbial after a noun, in order to give more information about events or periods of time.

I'm afraid the meeting this afternoon tired me badly.

No admissions are permitted in the hour before closing time.