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).