Terms

What does a m mean in English. Time notation in AM and PM format: how to determine the time of day

The change of day and night naturally divides the day into two parts. And this significant difference between the time of day was reflected even in the language. We say "at two o'clock in the afternoon" or "at two o'clock in the morning" to emphasize whether the action took place during the day or at night. And there are two more wonderful words in Russian for this purpose: “afternoon” and “midnight”.

In ancient times, time was determined differently day and night. During the day, if the sun was shining, then according to the sundial. And at night - by sand or water clocks, measuring the amount of expired sand or water. Who needed to measure time at night? Guards and stargazers. The shepherds did without watches, determining the time by the stars. Later, when navigation appeared, knowing the exact time became a guarantee that the ship would not get lost at sea, losing sight of the coast. Therefore, on the ship, one of the important watch posts was at the hourglass. The sailor watched the stream of sand and turned the hourglass over when the sand finally poured from the top of the bottle to the bottom. What he immediately signaled, for example, by striking a bell. Usually the “factory” of the hourglass was enough for a quarter of an hour, so the bell on the ship rang every fifteen minutes. This was called "beating the flasks."

As you can see, there was "day" time and "night" time. When, already in the Middle Ages, tower clocks appeared in cities, their dial was divided into 12 sectors, because they were actually “daytime”, at night, in the darkness, the dial could not be seen. And if on the tower clock the arrow pointed to the number "7", people themselves were unmistakably oriented, either it was time to open a shop, or the working day had already ended. Pretty soon, chimes were invented, watches in which time could not only be seen on the dial, but also heard by the corresponding number of bell strikes.

For many cities, the clock has become one of the attractions. The clock mechanism was forced not only to ring the bells, but also to show whole puppet shows. If the clock was high on the tower, then the dolls were made huge so that you could see them from below. Sometimes, on the contrary, the clock was lowered lower. Every hour people gathered to them to stare at the moralizing mechanical mystery. Probably the most famous clock of this type is the clock on the Town Hall Square in Prague.

The dial of this watch, by the way, is divided into 24 sectors. They show not only "day" time, but also "night" time too. Also day and month.

The two systems of calculating the time of day that had developed in this way seemed to cohabit on the same territory. In oral speech, the twelve-hour system was preferred, with the addition, if necessary, of indicating the time of day. Moreover, the watches that appeared in personal use, pocket and wrist, usually had a dial divided into 12 sectors. In writing, that is, mainly in orders and directives, the twenty-four hour system was preferred. This made it possible to avoid ambiguity, which was especially important in military affairs. Bringing a regiment to the river and crossing to the other side at four o'clock in the afternoon or at four o'clock in the morning are completely different things, aren't they? In the United States and Canada, the twenty-four-hour system for representing the time of day is called “military” or “astronomical”.

In everyday life in these countries, the twelve-hour system is practically the standard. In this system, the hour of the day is indicated by a number from 1 to 12 with the addition of two letters, AM or PM. These letters are an abbreviation of the Latin words "ante meridiem" ("before noon") and "post meridiem" ("afternoon").

Usually, the question arises as to how noon and midnight are designated in the twelve-hour system. The convention is that 12:00AM is noon and 12:00PM is midnight. Therefore, the minutes of the first hour after noon in the twelve-hour record are designated as follows: 12:15AM. This corresponds to 12:15 in the twenty-four hour record. The time of the first hour after midnight is 12:30PM. This corresponds to 0:30 in a twenty-four hour recording. That is, there is no zero in the twelve-hour time system. Its role is played by the number 12.

Let's learn how to understand and tell the time in English am and pm correctly. 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. It is more convenient for them in 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 the 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 - military 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

Time: 24-hour and 12-hour. If everything is clear with the distribution of digital indicators in the first case, then the second one is a more complicated topic for us. 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 the American time system using standard wall clocks. 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 household communication. However, it can create a little confusion when it comes to 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, strict rules have been adopted in the United States, according to 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 even in school years the child understands this simple topic 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.

The ability to tell the time in English is one of the basic skills that students who want to thoroughly learn the language should work out to automatism. For the name of time, as well as time frames and intervals, simple, but clear and fairly rigid grammatical constructions are used, the slightest violation of which can result in misunderstanding.

To indicate the time in English, not only classic authentic phrases can be used, but also international indicators - such as A.M., P.M.., time PDT and time EST. Having clearly mastered their meaning and application, one can freely navigate both in complex texts and in communication with native speakers.

Basic words on the topic "Time"

The basic vocabulary for tenses in English consists of the following words:

o "clock- time
a minute- minute
a half- half
an hour- hour
a quarter- quarter
to- to (in the second half of the hour)
past- after (in the first half of the hour)
sharp (exactly)- exactly (of time)

How to say time in English

In the designation of time in English, several nuances can be distinguished - even time, time in the first and second half of the current hour, and time in minutes that are not multiples of five.

Flat time

The classic option is to use a phrase with the word o "clock.

It's six o "clock - It's exactly 6 o'clock now.

It's eight o "clock - It's exactly 8 o'clock now.

It's ten o "clock - It's exactly 10 o'clock now.

In some cases, the meaning of even time can be reinforced by the word sharp or exactly.

It's two o'clock sharp - It's exactly two o'clock now.

It's exactly seven o'clock - It's exactly seven o'clock now.

Time in the first half of the current hour

Speaking of time after zero minutes in English, constructions with the word past. In this context, it indicates how many minutes have passed since the specified hour.

It "s five past four - 5 minutes past five ("5 minutes after four" literally)

It's ten past two. - 10 minutes after two ("10 minutes after two" literally)

It's twenty past one - 20 minutes past one ("20 minutes past one" literally)

Half and 15 minutes of the hour is a special case. Time in English in such a situation is indicated with the help of words half and a quarter.

For example:

It's half past twelve - Half past one ("half after twelve" literally)

It's a quarter past two - 15 minutes past three ("a quarter after two" literally)

To know how to call time in English correctly, you need to pay attention to the fact that when designating the first half of an hour, the hour that has already come is used!

In addition, in American English you can find a variant with the word after.

It's ten after eight - 10 minutes past eight.

Time in the second half of the current hour

To name the time from half before the new hour, use constructions with the word to. In place of the hour, the time that should come is set.

It's ten to five - Without 10 minutes five (literally "10 minutes to five")

It's five to seven - Five minutes to seven (literally "5 minutes to seven")

It's twenty to four - Twenty minutes to four (literally "20 minutes to four")

A quarter is also used to indicate the last quarter of an hour.

It's a quarter to two - Fifteen minutes to two (literally "15 minutes to two")

In the American version, instead of to meets of.

It's ten of three - Ten to three.

Time in minutes, not a multiple of five

The principle of notation of time in this case is the same, and the grammatical constructions do not change. The only difference is the obligatory use of the word minutes after the numerical designation of minutes.

It's eleven minutes past three - Eleven minutes past three.

It's nineteen minutes to twelve - Nineteen minutes to twelve.

How to ask about the time

To clarify the time in English, the following phrases are used:

What time is it? - What time is it now?

What time is it now? - What time is it now?

What's the time? -What time is it?

Have you got the time? - Do you have a watch?

Could you tell me the time please? - Can you tell me what time it is?

Do you happen to have the time? - Do you happen to know what time it is?

P.M. value and A.M.

Abbreviation p.m. or a.m. near the designation of time plunges some into confusion. So what is time a.m. and p.m. in English and when can such abbreviations be used? P.M. Is it morning or evening? These are the questions that come up most often.

Before answering the question about decoding a.m. and p.m., it is worth remembering that time can be given in both 24-hour and 12-hour formats. In England, only the 12-hour clock is used!

To avoid confusion when naming the time, a.m. is added to the digital value. (am) or p.m. (pm). The designations are translated as follows:

A.M. - ante meridiem("before noon" in Latin, interval from 00:00 to 12:00)

P.M. - post meridiem("afternoon" in Latin, interval from 12:00 to 00:00)

Therefore, answering the question about time in English using the 12 hour format can be done as follows:

It's six p.m. now. - It's 6 pm now.

It's about nine a.m.. - It's about 9 a.m. now.

Even when the answer to the question about the meaning and translation of p.m. and a.m. into English is clarified, there may still be difficulties. First of all, this is a clarification of the transition time. Questions “12 p.m. - how much is this?" and "12 a.m. - how much is this? Is it morning or evening? often require further explanation.

In this case, just remember:

12 p.m. - 12 noon (NOON)!
12 a.m. - 12 o'clock NIGHT (MIDNIGHT)!

If there is no certainty that the designation is remembered correctly, the question about time can be answered:

It's midday | It's noon - It's noon now.

It "s midnight - It's midnight now.

No less popular are designs using in the morning, in the evening, in the afternoon.

It's eight o "clock in the morning - 8 o'clock in the morning.

It's ten o "clock in the evening - 10 pm.

It's three o "clock in the afternoon - 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

Time in PDT and EST

Often in business and scientific documentation you can find two more temporary abbreviations - PDT and EST, since they are used quite often, it is worth clarifying their meaning.

PDT (Pacific Daylight Time)- PDT. It differs from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) by -7 hours, the time difference with Moscow is 11 hours. Operates in the USA. from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November. Thus, if in Moscow it is 18:30, then in the USA at this time it is 7:30 in the morning.

EST (Eastern Standard Time)- North American Eastern Time. This is a time zone that differs from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) by -5 hours and from Moscow time by -8 hours. This belt contains 23 states of the USA, including Connecticut, New York and Florida, three provinces of Canada and 9 countries of the Caribbean, Central and South America. 18:30 Moscow time is 10:30 EST.

Correction of time according to the indicated time zones is often used in international negotiations, tracking international cargo, astronomical observations, and also in other necessary cases.

Useful phrases related to time

For the free use of time notation in English, the following phrases, words and expressions may come in handy:

about - about, approximately (It's about eleven - It's about 11 o'clock now)

almost - almost, practically (It's almost midnight - Almost midnight)

on the dot - exactly (and not a second later) (Meet you at half past nine in the evening on the dot - Meet you at exactly half past ten in the evening).

just gone - the beginning, just arrived, a little more (It's just gone seven. - Now a little more than seven hours)

If it is impossible to answer the question about the time or the wrong answer, the following phrases are used:

My watch is slow. - My clock is slow.

I've left my watch at home. - I forgot my watch at home.

My watch is stolen. - My watch was stolen.

My watch is broken. - My watch is broken.

Your watch is fast. - Your clock is running fast.

I've lost my watch. - I lost my watch.

When naming time and time intervals, certain prepositions are used:

	at eight o'clock
before (such and such hour), by (such and such hour)	by eight o'clock	before 8 o'clock, by 8 o'clock
during	for eight o'clock	within 8 hours
	from eight till ten	from 8 to 10 o'clock
	eight o'clock	after 8 hours
	since eight o'clock
	till eight o'clock	up to 8 hours

Some countries, including the US, Canada, and Australia, use the 12-hour clock format including am and pm. What do these abbreviations mean? Is midnight am or pm?

12-hour clock at noon: 12 am or 12 pm?

Logically, noon can be stated as both 12 am and 12 pm. We recommend using 12 noon instead.

Two 12-Hour Periods

The 12-hour system divides the 24 hours of a day into two periods lasting 12 hours each. The first 12-hour period is designated as am. It runs from midnight to noon. The second period, marked pm, covers the 12 hours from noon to midnight.

The abbreviations am and pm derive from Latin:

AM = Ante meridium: Before none
PM = Post meridium: After none

Using numbers from 1 to 12, followed by am or pm, the 12-hour clock system identifies all 24 hours of the day. For example, 5 am is early in the morning, and 5 pm is late in the afternoon; 1 am is one hour after midnight, while 11 pm is one hour before midnight.

Ante meridiem is commonly denoted as AM, am, a.m., or A.M.; post meridiem is usually abbreviated PM, pm, p.m., or P.M..

Midnight and Noon: AM or PM?

The main weakness of the 12-hour system is a widespread confusion about which abbreviation should be used for noon and midnight: neither moment can logically be identified as before noon (am) or after noon (pm). For example, the moment of midnight occurs precisely 12 hours after noon on the previous day and 12 hours before noon on the following day.

Although the precise moment of noon falls in neither category, the hour succeeding it, from 12:00:01 to 12:59:59, is clearly after noon.

To avoid any confusion when referring to the precise moment of noon or midnight, we recommend using the designs 12 noon and 12 midnight instead.

Midnight Confusion

Another source of confusion is the lack of a date designator in the 12-hour system, making it impossible to logically identify a correct moment in time when only a date and 12:00 am (midnight) is provided.

Imagine being asked to pick up a friend at the airport at 12:00 am on April 13. Would you go there at midnight between April 12 and April 13? Or 24 hours later?

One way to overcome this problem is to sacrifice accuracy for clarity. Your friend could ask you to be at the airport at 12:01 am on April 13 or, if the following midnight is meant, at 11:59 pm on April 13. alternatively, the 24-hour format could be used. Here, 0:00 refers to midnight at the beginning of the day while 24:00 is midnight at the end of the day.

Time Formats
12-hour	24 hours
12:00 (midnight)	0:00 (beginning of the day)
12:01 am	0:01
1:00 a.m.	1:00
2:00 a.m.	2:00
3:00 a.m.	3:00
4:00 a.m.	4:00
5:00 a.m.	5:00
6:00 a.m.	6:00
7:00 a.m.	7:00
8:00 a.m.	8:00
9:00 a.m.	9:00
10:00 a.m.	10:00
11:00 a.m.	11:00
12:00 noon	12:00
12:01 p.m.	12:01
1:00 p.m.	13:00
2:00 p.m.	14:00
3:00 p.m.	15:00
4:00 p.m.	16:00
5:00 p.m.	17:00
6:00 p.m.	18:00
7:00 p.m.	19:00
8:00 p.m.	20:00
9:00 p.m.	21:00
10:00 p.m.	22:00
11:00 p.m.	23:00
12:00 p.m.	24:00 (end of the day)

Converting 12-Hour to 24-Hour Format

A 24-hour clock, sometimes referred to as military time, states the time according to the number of hours that have passed since midnight. Starting at midnight, hours are numbered from 0 to 24, removing the need for designs like am and pm. For example, at 23:00, 23 hours have passed since the beginning of the current day.

To convert am or pm time to the 24-hour format, use these rules:

From midnight to 12:59 am, subtract 12 hours.
12:49 am = 0:49 (12:49 - 12)

From 1 am to noon, do nothing.
11:49 am = 11:49 am

From 12:01 pm to 12:59 pm, do nothing.
12:49pm = 12:49pm

From 1:00 pm to midnight, add 12 hours.
1:49 pm = 13:49 (1:49 + 12)

Here's how to convert time on a 24-hour clock to the 12-hour system:

From 0:00 (midnight) to 0:59, add 12 hours and use am.
0:49 = 12:49 am (0:49 + 12)

From 1:00 to 11:59, just add am after the time.
11:49 = 11:49 am

From 12:00 to 12:59, just add pm after the time.
12:49 = 12:49 p.m.

From 13:00 to 0:00, subtract 12 hours and use pm.
13:49 = 1:49 pm (13:49 - 12)

Where Is the 12-Hour Format Used?

Most countries around the world today use the 24-hour system. The 12-hour format, including am and pm, is officially used only in the United States, Canada (except Québec), Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

Why Does the Day Have 24 Hours?

The Egyptians are thought to be responsible for dividing the day into 24 equal parts. One account suggests that this custom evolved because the Egyptians commonly used the base 12, counting the 3 joints in their fingers, not including the thumb.

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)

11:15 :56

UTC is the common time standard across the world

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