What's the time?

How to tell the time in English

a.m. - p.m.

a.m. = ante meridiem = the time from midnight to noon = from 00:00 to 12:00

p.m. = post meridiem = the time from noon to midnight = from 12:00 to 24:00

The 24-hour clock is the most commonly used time notation in the world today.

But in English speaking countries the 12-hour clock is the dominant system of time written and spoken.

The 24-hour clock is only used by the military in the United States and Canada.

		Examples:
24-hour	12-hour
11:00	11 a.m.	It's eleven o'clock a.m.
23:00	11 p.m.	It's eleven o'clock p.m.
10:30	10.30 a.m.	It's half past ten a.m.
22:30	10:30 p.m.	It's half past ten p.m.
04:45	4:45 a.m.	It's a quarter to five a.m.
16:45	4:45 p.m.	It's a quarter to five p.m.
08:15	8:15 a.m.	It's a quarter past eight a.m.
20:15	8:15 p.m.	It's a quarter past eight p.m.
09:10	9:10 a.m.	It's ten (minutes) past nine a.m.
11:20	11:20 a.m.	It' twenty (minutes) past eleven a.m.
21:50	9:50 p.m.	It's ten (minutes) to ten p.m.
19:40	7:40 p.m.	It's twenty (minutes) to eight p.m.

There are two questions to ask for the time: What's the time? or What time is it?