How to Tell Time

Time is money. Time is of the essence. Time is, well, important. Telling time is especially important as you grow up and become a busy person. This article here is for anybody who wants to know how to tell time. Read on for some helpful hints and tips.

Part 1
Part 1 of 4:

Learning the Basic Techniques

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    Find a working clock to look at. On this clock, you'll notice a lot of numbers and three arrows, also called hands.
    • One hand is very thin and moves very fast. It's called the seconds hand. Every time it moves, a second has gone by.
    • Another hand is thick and long like the seconds hand. It's called the minutes hand. Every time it moves one little tick, a minute has gone by. Every 60 times it moves a whole step, an hour has gone by.
    • The last hand is thick, too, but smaller than the minutes hand. It's called the hours hand. Every time it moves one big tick, an hour has gone by. Every 24 times it moves a whole step, a day has gone by.
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    2
    Know the relationship between seconds, minutes, and hours. Seconds, minutes, and hours are all measures of the same thing: time. They're not the same thing, but they measure the same thing.[1]
    • Every 60 seconds counts as one minute. 60 seconds, or 1 minute, is the time it takes the seconds hand to move from the number 12 all the way back again to 12.
    • Every 60 minutes counts as one hour. 60 minutes, or 1 hour, is the time it takes the minutes hand to move from the number 12 all the way back again to 12.
    • Every 24 hours counts as one day. 24 hours, or one day, is the time it takes the hours hand to move from the number 12 all the way back again to 12, and then around one more time.
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    Look at the numbers on the clock. You'll notice that there are a lot of numbers laid out around the clock. They are laid out in ascending order, which means they get bigger as they move around the circle of the clock. There are numbers going up from 1 all the way to 12.[2]
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    Know that every hand on a clock travels around a circle in the same direction. We call this direction "clockwise." It goes in the order of the numbers, like the clock was counting up from 1 to 12. The hands on the clock always travel this direction when they are working properly.
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Part 2
Part 2 of 4:

Telling the Hour

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    Look at the number that the hours hand (the small, thick hand) is pointing at. This will tell us the hour of the day. The hours hand always points at the big numbers on the clock.[3]
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    Know that often, the hours hand will be pointed in between two numbers. When it's pointed between two numbers, the hour of the day is always the lower number.
    • So if the hours hand is pointed between 5 and 6 on the clock, it's 5-something, because 5 is the lower number.
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    Know that if the hours hand is pointed directly at a big number, it's exactly that-o'clock. For example, if the small, thick hand is pointed directly at the number 9, it's exactly 9 o'clock.
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    Learn the movement of the hands. Watch as the hour hand moves slowly closer to a big number, the minutes hand gets closer to the number 12. When the minutes hand hits 12, the next hour starts.
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Part 3
Part 3 of 4:

Telling the Minutes

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    Look at the number that the minutes hand (the long, relatively thick hand) is pointing at. This will tell us the minute of the day. Notice the little ticks in between the big numbers. These represent minutes, although each big number also one minute, as well as the hour. Tell how many minutes there are by counting each little tick as one minute, starting from the number 12.[4]
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    2
    Use multiples of five. When the minutes hand is pointing at a big number on the clock, use multiples of five to tell how many minutes there are.
    • For example, if the minutes hand is pointing directly at 3, you multiply 3 by 5 in order to 15. "15" is how many minutes that have passed in the current hour.
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    Learn to determine the minutes. Minute time uses multiples of five, along with little ticks in between big numbers. When the minutes hand is pointed in between a big number on the clock, find the nearest big number that it has passed, multiply that number by 5, and add that product to however many little ticks are in between. There are four small ticks in between each big number.
    • For example, if the minutes hand is pointed right in between the 2 and the 3, go first to the 2. Use the 2 to multiply 5, which gives us 10. Then, count out the number of ticks it takes to get from 10 to where the minutes hand is pointed: it takes two, meaning.
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    Know where the minutes hand is when the hours hand is pointed exactly at its number. When the hours hand is pointed exactly at a big number on the clock, the minutes hand will always be pointed directly at 12.
    • This is because the hour changed, so the minutes hand is starting over again. If the hours hand is pointed directly at 5 and the minutes clock is pointed directly at 12, that means it's 5 o'clock exactly.
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Part 4
Part 4 of 4:

Putting it All Together

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    Notice where the hours hand is on this example. The hours hand is pointed directly at the number 6, which means it's exactly 6 o'clock. If the hours hand is pointed exactly at 6, that means that the minutes hand must be pointed directly at 12.[5]
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    Notice where the minutes hand is on this example. The minutes hand is 2 ticks beyond the 9. So how do we figure out how many minutes there are in this hour?
    • First, we multiply 9 by 5 to get 45. Then we add another 2 ticks to 45, giving us 47. We have 47 minutes in the hour.
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    Notice where the hours and minutes hands are on this example. The hours hand is in between 11 and 12, while the minutes hand is 4 ticks beyond the 3. How do we figure out the time?
    • First, let's tell the hour of the day. Because the hours hand is between 11 and 12, we pick the lower number. This means it's 11-something o'clock. Let's do the minutes next. We need to multiply 3 by 5. This gives us 15. Now we need to add the 4 ticks to 15 which gives us 19. There are 19 minutes in the hour, and the hour is 11. That means the time is 11:19.
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Community Q&A

  • Question
    How many minutes does it take the hour hand to complete a rotation?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    It moves from one number to the next in 60 minutes, then multiply that by 12 numbers, and you get 720. So, it takes 720 minutes for a complete rotation, which is 12 hours.
  • Question
    How do you tell the minutes?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    There are 60 minutes in an hour. There are 5 tick marks in between each number on the clock. Each one is one minute. If the long minute hand is pointed at the 3, that means it is 15 minutes past the hour. At the 4, it is 20 past the hour and so on. I am sure there are plenty of online videos and worksheets to help you.
  • Question
    If it's 10 minutes till 12 o'clock, how would that look on a clock?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    The short hand, or hour hand, would be between the 11 and the 12, while the long hand, or minute hand, would be exactly on the 10.
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References

  1. ↑ https://www.wyzant.com/resources/lessons/math/elementary_math/telling_time
  2. ↑ https://www.wyzant.com/resources/lessons/math/elementary_math/telling_time
  3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrxZWNu72WI
  4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CF27S4od3o
  5. ↑ https://www.wyzant.com/resources/lessons/math/elementary_math/telling_time

About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 39 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 442,533 times.
257 votes - 62%
Co-authors: 39
Updated: March 28, 2022
Views: 442,533
Categories: Teaching Children Skills
Article SummaryX

If you need to tell time on an analog clock, remember that the short and thick hand tells the hour, but the long and slightly thinner hand tells the minute. That makes the hour hand easy to read because if it points at the 2, it is 2 o’clock; or if it points at the 3, it’s 3 o’clock. However, when the minute hand points at a number, you have to multiply it by 5 to get the minutes. For example, the minute hand points at the 6 when it’s 5:30 because 6 times 5 = 30. To learn how to tell the time when the hour hand is pointing between 2 numbers, read on!

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