Tell the Time Using 24-Hour Clocks

Clocks have an hour hand and a minute hand (and sometimes a second hand).

The hour hand is pointing between 6 and 7, so we know it is after 6 o'clock but before 7 o'clock.

The minute hand is pointing to 6 which is really 5 x 6 = 30 minutes, which is halfway round the clock.

So the time shown is half past 6 which is  06:30 in 24-hour clock time if it is the morning and 18:30 if it is the evening.    

24-hour clock time uses four digits usually separated by a colon : though often, a timetable will not include the colon and simply write the time as 1830.

The evening time is 12 hours later than the morning time (6 + 12 = 18)

When we move on 1 minute, the hands look like this.

The hour hand has moved a tiny tiny tiny amount.

The minute hand has moved forward one minute.

So the time shown is 06:31 or 18:31 

Let's practise telling the time in the following questions.