Telling Time 14:31 (Hours:Minutes) in US American and UK British English. How To Say What Time It Is, Civil, Military and Casual, Written Out in Words. Time to Words Converter
What time is it? Telling time: 14:31
Write Out (the) Time in Words
Telling time using: 1. Civil Time. 2. Casual Time, influenced by the digital. 3. Casual Time, rounding up or down. 4. Military Time.
I. How to tell (the) time în English, American and British
The minutes:
- The 'number of minutes' is said first, followed by the 'number of hours', unless the hour is sharp (on the dot - i.e. five o'clock), in which case the number of minutes is not said.
- In our case the number of minutes is more than 30 (more than half an hour). Our time is closer to the next hour. In this case we say the number of minutes remaining till the next hour.
- Subtract our number of minutes from 60: 60 - 31 = 29.
The hours:
- Civil time day is divided into two 12-hour periods beginning alternately at 12 at midnight and at 12 at noon.
- Since our number of hours is more than a 12-hour period, subtract 12 from it: 14 - 12 = 2.
- Add 1 to the number of hours since the number of minutes is more than 30 (more than half an hour) - time is closer to the next hour.
II. Writing and telling time in American English
1. Telling time using Civil Time.
Time written out in words, in American English:
[ / ] - Either could be used.
14:31 = twenty-nine minutes [ of / till / until / before / to ] three in the afternoon.
2. Telling time using Casual Time, influenced by the digital.
Time said in words, in American English:
- Note that in this case the number of hours is said first instead, followed by the number of minutes.
- To differentiate between the hours until noon and those after noon, an additional indicator is used to display time: a.m. (ante meridiem - before noon) and p.m. (post meridiem - after the noon).
p.m. = post meridiem (after the noon).
[ / ] - Either could be used.
14:31 = two thirty-one [ p.m. / in the afternoon].
3. Telling time using Casual Time, Rounding Up or Down.
Time written down, in American English:
- When telling time many of us use to round off the number of minutes to the nearest multiple of 5.
≈ approximately equal.
[ / ] - Either could be used.
14:31 ≈ half [ after / past ] two in the afternoon.
4. Telling time using Military Time.
Time in writing, in American English:
- Military time is used to avoid any possible confusion between a.m. - ante meridiem (morning, before noon) and p.m. - post meridiem (after the noon).
- Each day is made up of a single 24-hour period, beginning at midnight.
- No semicolon between numeric hours and minutes.
- The number of hours is said first, followed by the number of minutes, then the word 'hours'.
1431 hours = fourteen thirty-one hours.
- Military time used to avoid any confusion between a.m. and p.m. hours.
III. Writing and telling the time 14:31 in (UK) British English
1. Telling the time, Civil Time:
twenty-nine minutes to three in the afternoon.
2. Telling the time, Casual Time:
two thirty-one [ p.m. / in the afternoon].
[ / ] - Either could be used.
p.m. = post meridiem (after the noon).
Analog clocks - Did you know?
- The minute hand revolves 12 times faster than the hour hand: the hour hand goes once around the clock every 12 hours while the minute hand goes once around the clock every 1 hour.
- The second hand revolves 60 times faster than the minute hand: the minute hand goes once around the clock every 60 minutes, while the second hand goes once around the clock every one minute; and 12 × 60 = 720 times faster than the hour hand.
- The way we are telling time is a direct result of the way the analog clocks (mechanical clocks, with hands) looked like in the past (they still look almost the same).