Timeis a noun with a number of meanings. In some senses it is countable, and in others it is uncountable. A good learner’s dictionary will give you its manymeanings and tell you whether it is countable or uncountable.
Time: seconds, minutes, hours, years
We usetimeto refer to what is measured in seconds, minutes, hours and years as a whole. In this sense it is uncountable:
How muchtimedo we have for this project?
Children nowadays spend moretimewatching TV than playing.
Not: …spend more times…
In some expressionstimeis countable:
At atimein our history when technology is developing so fast, we can’t afford not to invest in Information Technology.
I haven’t seen Brian for a longtime.
Time: talking about clock or calendar time
When we talk about specific clock times,timeis countable. We do not sayhour:
Whattimeis it now?
Not:What hour is it?
Is this a badtimeto phone?
Is the swimming pool open at thattime?
Not: …at that hour?
We usein …’s timeto say when something will happen:
I’ll be finished collegeinthree months’time.
I’ve ordered a new computer and it’ll be hereina week’stime.
See also:
At,onandin(time)
Telling the time
On timeandin time
We useon timeto talk about timetabled events. If something ison time, it means that it is at the scheduled time. We often useright on timeor, more informally,deadon timeorbang on time,for emphasis:
The trains are usuallyontime.(They arrive at the scheduled times, not early or late.)
A:It’s quarter to two. We’d better get back for the meeting.
B:Don’t worry. These meetings never starton time.
I was lucky. The flight to Chicago arrivedright on time, so I got my connection.
We usein timeto say we are not late and have enough time to do something. We use it withforplus a noun, or with a verb in theto-infinitiveform:
If we leave here at about ten, we should arrive at the coastin timefor lunch.
I hope to be therein timeto see you before lunch.(early enough to have time to see you before lunch)
We often use the phrasejust in timeto emphasise that we have time to do something but are almost too late:
You’rejust in timefor lunch!
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It must be completed according to the schedule. | It must be completed with time to spare before the start of the Olympics. |
See also:
At,onandin(time)
Time: referring to past events
We often use expressions withtimeto refer to past events (the time, the time that, the time when):
Rememberthe timeyour phone went off at Olivia and John’s wedding?
I’ll never forgetthe time thatwe all dressed up as clowns for Elaine’s party.
One time whenI was driving home, I saw a strange guy hitchhiking.
Children’s stories often begin withOnce upon a time:
Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Cinderella …
Telling the time
Asking the time
We can ask about the time in different ways:
What time is it, please?
What’s the time, please, Mark?
What time does the meeting start?
Could you tell me the time, please?(more formal)
At what time does the concert begin?(formal and literary style)
What time do you make it?(informal)
Have you got the time, please?
Saying the time
When we talk about time on a clock, we useamto refer to times between 12.00 in the night and 11.59 in the day and we usepmto refer to times between 12.00 in the day and 11.59 in the night:
I never get up before 10am.
We weren’t home until 1.00am.
It was 7.00pmbefore the plane took off.
We usually have a lunch break at 12.30pm.
9.00 nine o’clock
9.05 five past nine or nine oh five
9.10 ten past nine or nine ten
9.15 quarter past nine or nine fifteen
9.20 twenty past nine or nine twenty
9.25 twenty-five past nine or nine twenty-five
9.30 half past nine or nine thirty
9.35 twenty-five to ten or nine thirty-five
9.40 twenty to ten or nine forty
9.45 quarter to ten or nine forty-five
9.50 ten to ten or nine fifty
9.55 five to ten or nine fifty-five
10.00 ten o’clock
We only useo’clockfor the hour:
It’s ten o’clock.
Not:It’s quarter past ten o’clock.
For times outside five-minute intervals, we sayminutes pastorminutes to:
9.01 one minute past nine
9.03 three minutes past nine
9.36 twenty-four minutes to ten
9.58 two minutes to ten
We also use the twenty-four-hour clock, especially in formal writing and in timetables:
The 24-hour clock | am and pm |
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[13.00]
Atthirteen hundred(hours), a bus will collect passengers from the front of the hotel.
[18.40]
The meeting ended ateighteen forty.
Short ways of saying the time
In informal situations, we often dropo’clock:
I usually get up atsevenand I have to be at work bynine.(=I usually get up atseven o’clockand I have to be at work bynineo’clock.)
When the speaker and the listener both know the hour, they may not need to say it:
A:Is itquarter pastyet?
B:No, it’s onlyten past. (For example, if A and B know that the hour is six,quarter pastmeansquarter past sixandten pastmeansten past six.)
[A and B are going to the cinema to see a film that they know begins at eight o’clock. Their friend Karen is collecting them at 7.40.]
A:What time is Karen picking us up?
B:Attwenty to.
In informal speaking, we can leave outpastinhalf past:
A:What time is it?
B:Half two.
This means 2.30, not 1.30.