CEFR Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 16: — English

Dialogue

Where's "it"?

Emma Minsu, what time is it?
Minsu Is three o'clock.
Emma Start with "It's": It's three o'clock.
Minsu Oh, it's three o'clock. It's late!

Dialogue

At what time?

Jack Emma, what time is the class?
Emma It's at nine o'clock.
Jack And what time is it now?
Emma It's a quarter to nine. It's early.

Vocabulary

汉字	POS	Meaning
time	n.	time
hour	n.	hour
minute	n.	minute
o'clock	n.	o'clock
half	n.	half
quarter	n.	quarter
morning	n.	morning
afternoon	n.	afternoon
evening	n.	evening
night	n.	night

Grammar

Telling the time: "It's ..." Telling the time: "It's ..."

In English you always tell the time with the dummy subject "It's": It's three o'clock, It's nine o'clock. You must NOT drop "it", even though many languages have no subject here. For the minutes, use "past" up to the half hour and "to" after it: five past three (3:05), (a) quarter past three (3:15), half past three (3:30), (a) quarter to four (3:45). Parts of the day take a preposition: in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening — but at night. To ask: What time is it? For a scheduled time, use "at": The class is at nine.

What time is it? — It's three o'clock. What time is it? — It's three o'clock.
It's half past two. It's half past two.
It's a quarter to four. It's a quarter to four.
The class is at nine in the morning. The class is at nine in the morning.

pronunciation