每日英语：三分钟教会你用英语聊时间！

说起来，时间大概是我们开始学习英语后最早接触的一批系列单词，然而这么多年过去，词汇积累了这么多，却还是时不时栽在最简单常见的知识点上。今天小编为你总结了最简单易懂的时间英语表达法，以后千万不要出错了哦！

o’clock

The phrase "o'clock" comes from the meaning ‘of the clock’ and is used when you are referencing time on the hour. It works for every hour on the clock, am and pm, but cannot be used when including minutes.

“o’clock”这个短语来源于“of the clock”，用于表达小时的时间概念。它可以用于所有的整点时间，包括上午和下午，但不能表述具体分钟。

Example: I have a dentist appointment at 2 o'clock.

Time in minutes

When you are referring to the exact time, there are two ways in which you can do this:

当你指准确的时间时，你可以选择以下两种说法：

1. Say the hour first, followed by the minutes:

先说小时，再说分钟：

> 8:20 - It's eight twenty

> 10:05 - It's ten o-five

> 17:40 - It’s five forty

2. Say the minutes first followed by the hour:

先说分钟，再说小时：

> 4:35 - It's twenty-five to five

> 3:20 - It's twenty past three

> 19:18 - It's eighteen past seven pm

• Quarter past– When people use the term "quarter past" it means that it is a quarter past the hour.

  用“quarter past”表示整点过了15分钟。

• Half past– When people use the term "half past" it means that it is half past the hour.

  用“half past”表示整点过了30分钟。

• Quarter to– When people use the term "quarter to" it means that it is a quarter to the approaching hour.

  用“quarter to”表示还差15分钟到下一个整点。

Minor differences:in the USA, Americans refer to the exact time rather than splitting it into halves and quarters. For example, in American English people will say "four thirty," whereas in the UK people will say "it’s half past four."

小区别：在美国，美国人更习惯用准确的数字表示时间，而不是分成半点或一刻钟来说。比如，美式英语中人们会说“four thirty”，英式英语中则会说“it’s half past four”。

The Time of Day

While numbers will tell you the exact time, it’s also common to talk about the general time of the day instead of being specific. Here are some common words and phrases which are used in reference to time.

虽然用数字可以准确表达时间，但我们也经常表达大概时间而不是准确时间。这里有些常用短语可以适用于这种情况：

• Morning– any time between 12am to 12pm.

• Noon– refers to 12pm, and is the start of the afternoon.

• Afternoon– any time between 12pm to 6pm.

• Midnight– refers to the middle of the night, which is any time between 12am to 3am.

Asking for the time

• What time is it?

• What is the time?

• Could you tell me the time please?

• Do you have the time?

• What time are we meeting?（来源：cafeabcdaily）