Clocks: o’clock and half past · Martinとコード

The short hand, the long hand. You will learn to read o’clock and half past on a clock.

Two hands, one time

A clock with hands looks mysterious. But it speaks a simple language. You just need to know two hands.

The short hand is the boss. It shows the hour. It is slow and important.

The long hand shows the minutes. It runs fast around.

Why learn this when a phone shows numbers? Because clocks with hands hang in the classroom, at the station and at grandma’s. And most of all: on the face you see time like a cake. How much has gone and how much is left — the numbers on a phone do not show you that. Hands do.

Today you will learn two times. O’clock: the long hand points straight up at twelve. The short one points at a number — and that number is the time. Short on three, long at the top: it is three o’clock.

Half past: the long hand points straight down at six. And watch the trick — half past three means the short hand is between three and four. Halfway to four.

Ema asks: “Mum, when do we go to the cinema?” “At half past four.” Ema looks at the clock on the wall. The long hand hangs down at six. The short one is between four and five. “It is… half past four! Mum, we go now!” Mum laughs and takes the keys. On the way Ema explains to Adam: “Half past four is not half of five. It is halfway to five. The short hand has already left four, but it has not reached five yet.” At the cinema Ema watches the clock in the lobby. “We start at five, the long hand must go up!” They make the film exactly on the hour.

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Long hand up at 12 = o’clock. Long hand down at 6 = half past. Read the short hand by which number it is going towards.

How to read o’clock and half past

Reading o’clock:

Look at the long hand. Does it point at 12 up top? It is o’clock.
Look at the short one. Which number does it stand on? On eight → it is eight o’clock.

Reading half past:

Does the long hand point at 6 down? It is half past.
The short hand is between two numbers. Take the smaller one — the one it has left. Between eight and nine → it is half past eight.

Remember this trick well. Half past eight means: halfway after eight. The eighth hour is already running, nine is coming. In English we say the hour we have left, not the one we are going to.

How much time passes? From o’clock to half past is half an hour, that is 30 minutes. From three o’clock to half past three, 30 minutes pass. From three to four a whole hour passes, 60 minutes.

A day has 24 hours, but the face has only 12 numbers. So the short hand goes around the face twice a day: once in the morning, once in the afternoon. Three in the afternoon is sometimes written 15:00 — you will meet that on a phone and on TV.

Long on 12, short on 5. What time is it?

The long hand points straight up. So it is o’clock.

The short one stands on five.

It is five o’clock.

On a phone it would show 5:00 (morning) or 17:00 (afternoon). A clock with hands looks the same in both cases — whether it is morning or evening, you can tell by the window.

Long on 6, short between 1 and 2. What time is it?

The long hand hangs down at six. So it is half past.

The short one is between one and two. It has left one.

It is half past one.

Watch the trick: it is not “half past two”, even though the short hand is on its way to two. We say the hour we have left. One is finished, two is coming.

It is 9 o’clock. In how many minutes will it be half past nine?

At nine the long hand is up at twelve.

Half past nine happens when the long hand slides down to six. That is half the face.

Half the face = half an hour = 30 minutes.

In 30 minutes it will be half past nine. And in another 30 minutes it will be ten o’clock — two halves make a whole hour, 60 minutes.

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The biggest trick: half past seven is 7:30, not 8:30. The short hand sits between 7 and 8. Anyone who mixes this up arrives an hour late.

Play it

Before you go to the sheet, try it with your eyes. This is not a test — it is a game. Tap until you see it.

Practice: now you do it 🎲

Now try it for real. You will see all the questions at once, like on paper. スタート with ten. If it goes well, add more.

What time will it be in a little while? Look at the clock face above.

Practise the questions

On paper

Paper, a pencil and best of all a real clock with hands or a paper clock face.

Draw a clock face with numbers 1 to 12. Draw the hands for: 3 o’clock, 7 o’clock, half past four.
Set on the clock (or draw): half past seven. Check that the short hand is between 7 and 8.
Answer: how many minutes is half an hour? How many minutes is a whole hour?
All day, tell a parent the time whenever it is o’clock or half past.

Now you 💪

I know o’clock: long hand on 12, the short one says the hour.
I know half past: long on 6, short between numbers — the hour we have left counts.
I know that half an hour is 30 minutes.

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Done when: You read three o’clocks and three half pasts on a clock with no mistake, including half past seven.

What to take from this lesson

Short hand = hours, long = minutes.
Long up at 12 = o’clock. Long down at 6 = half past.
Half past seven = short hand between 7 and 8. We have left seven.
Half an hour = 30 minutes, a whole hour = 60 minutes.
The short hand goes around the face twice a day.