English in Use/Time and Date

Here are some hints on how to express the date and time in English:

Date

• The day of the month, the month, and the year:
  • Use on + ordinal of the day. On the 1st of June.
  • Use in + only and the month. In June.
  • Use about the + date (for approximate dates). About the 25th of December.
• Day of the week: precedes on. Example: open on Sundays.
• Ask the date: what's the date and what day is it (or today)?.
• Answer a date asking: today's the + ordinal. Today's the 16th.
• Century: in the + the ordinal of the century. Example: in the 20th century.
• Decade:
  • Precedes in with the number in plural: in the 1990s.
  • Follows something for undetermined year of the decade, in other words: in 1980 something.
• Era:
  • A.D. = Anno Domini, Latin for in the year of the Lord, in other words the Christian Era.
  • B.C. = Before Christ, in other words before Christian Era.

Time

• Ask the time: What time is it? and What is the time?
• Answer: It is and the part of the hour or the minutes, seconds: It is five o'clock.
• Parts of the day:
  • morning: in the morning
  • afternoon: in the afternoon
  • evening: in the evening
  • night: at night
  • Halves:
    • AM
    • PM
• Parts of the hour:
  • O'clock, for example: It is one o'clock (1:00).
  • Past and to:
    • It is 4 minutes past 5 (5:04) (or 4 minutes after 5 in USA).
    • It is 20 to 5 (4:40) (or 20 before 5 in USA).
  • Quarter:
    • A quarter past, for example: It is a quarter past 9 (9:15) (or a quarter after 9 in USA).
    • A quarter to, for example: It is a quarter to 12 (11:45) (or a quarter before 12 in USA).
  • Half past, for example: It is half past 9 (9:30).
• Answer to when?:
  • Certain time: At, for example: At 5 p.m..
  • Proximity:
    • Nearly, about : It is about 10 o'clock.
    • Just after: It is just after 10 (a few minutes past 10).
• Synonyms for times:
  • Noon, Midday: 12:00 in the 24 hour clock. It is 5 past noon (12:05).
  • Midnight: 0:00 in the 24 hour clock. Half past midnight (00:30).