Means a m and p m. Time designation in English? What is am and pm

IN modern world There are more than 200 countries, and each country has its own customs and traditions that shape the way of life of people and their habits. Trifles in culture, it would seem, should not affect the understanding of a person at all, but this is not so. We do not notice insignificant things, although they are fraught with many interesting and unusual things. Such trifles include differences in time formats.

In this article, we will figure out what time formats exist, what is their difference? Why can't enter the world common time? How to understand the designations of different formats? What is the symbol for time in English language?

Time formats

We live in a country where 24 hours of the day are used to indicate time. This format is called 24-hour. But there are also countries that use only 12 hours a day. On the dial, only 12 hours are used.

What's also interesting is that most people who live by the 24-hour clock tend to use only 12 hours more often. For example, we do not say “I will be at 19”, but “I will be at 7” or “I will be at 7 pm”.

Where did the two formats come from? It is clear that 24 hours is the length of a day. But why 12 hours and not 4 or 6? The format, when the day is divided into two parts of 12 hours, came from ancient world. Mesopotamia, Rome and Ancient Egypt used sundial during the day, and at night water. Some countries did not change the knowledge gained by their ancestors, but left the 12-hour format.

As for the USA, 2 formats are appropriate there. The most commonly used is 12 hours, but if you say, for example, "20 hours", then you will probably not be understood, since 24 hours is a military format.

Time notation in English

Which countries use 12 and 24 hour format? In English-speaking countries, the 12-hour format is most often used, so abbreviations were originally invented. The designation of time in English is pm (from the Latin Post meridiem - "after noon") and am (from the Latin Ante meridiem - "before noon"). And if the Americans somehow understand you, then another English-speaking world will prove that there is no more than 12 hours. A.m. consumed from 12 noon to 12 noon, and for p.m. it's the other way around. For example, if you want to say 15:00, it would be 3pm and 1am would be 1am. The designation of time in English is just that.

It is rather difficult to memorize these designations without constant repetition. Do you want to know how easy and simple it is to save them in memory? All you have to do is set your phone, tablet or computer (whichever you use most) to twelve hour clock. It usually takes a couple of days to get used to it. Most people who have switched to the 12-hour-a-day format use it that way.

And what about the indication of time in English on the clock? Like ours, the dial also has 12 hours. But there is a difference in electronic media. All electrical devices use twelve hours, but we have 24.

Which countries use 12 and 24 hour format?

As mentioned above, the world is conditionally divided into countries that use twenty-four hours to indicate time, and countries where the 12-hour format is used.

Countries with a 24-hour format include most of the world, for example, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Japan. In Australia, New Zealand and the United States (that is, in countries where the time designation is in English) 12 hours are used in a day. This is proven by the fact that English speakers are not comfortable saying, say, "16 o'clock".

There are also countries where both options are acceptable. These are Greece, Brazil, France, Great Britain, Albania and Turkey.

But what about Canada? As you know, Canada has two official languages- English and French. The country is divided according to the linguistic criterion into areas - provinces where they speak French, and territories with a predominant English language. All of Canada uses the 12-hour format because it was a British colony for a long time, but in the province of Quebec, people are more likely to use the 24-hour format.

Conclusion

So, we figured out that there are two time formats - 12 and 24-hour. Often in English they use 12 hours, for which they were invented special abbreviations. The designation of time in English occurs with the help of four letters - am (before noon) and pm (after noon). To better remember where, what and when to use, you need to set the twelve-hour time format on your phone, tablet or computer. If you want to go to a country where this format is used, for example, to the USA, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, you should prepare in advance to avoid misunderstandings.

Although we are taught to tell the time in school, most have not learned how to do it properly. However, talk about time in the modern world cannot be avoided. The secret is to restructure your thinking and start thinking in English. Many try not to mention the time, or simplify, or avoid using the words quarter, half, past, to.

To avoid possible inaccuracies, sometimes they simply say:

7.05 - seven five or seven oh five
7.10 - seven ten
7.15 - seven fifteen

The reason is that many have not fully figured out how to correctly indicate the time in English. Today we will talk about how native speakers indicate the time, how to use the words to and past, and talk about many other subtleties that will help you speak about time without errors and understand your interlocutors.

The first word you need to remember is o"clock . O "clock- this is an even hour, without minutes:

7.00 - seven o'clock
9.00 - nine o'clock
11.00 - eleven o'clock

Sometimes, especially at the initial stage of learning, they confuse words o "clock And hours. Please note the difference: o "clock- a mark on the clock face, and hours- 60 minutes, indicates duration, duration:

The lesson starts at 6 o "clock. - The lesson starts at six o'clock.

The lesson lasts for two hours. - The lesson lasts two hours.

To indicate right time, you need to mentally divide the dial in half and assign names to the halves:

first half hour: past(after)
second half hour: to(before)

Following important word: half half, half an hour. It is important to understand the difference in the perception of time in English, as in English they always say "half after" ( half past ) and called after what time:

2:30 - half past two

10:30 - half past ten - half past ten (half after ten)

12:30 - half past twelve - half past one (half after twelve)

By the way, in colloquial speech word past often omitted from expression half past:

The number of minutes in the first half of the hour must be indicated using the word past in this format: how much time has passed + after how much:

9:05 - five past nine (five after nine)

9:10 - ten past nine (ten after nine)

9:20 - twenty past nine (twenty after nine)

9:25 - twenty-five past nine (twenty five after nine)

Please note that if the number of minutes is a multiple of five then don't say a word minutes.

Another keyword: (a) quarter - a quarter of an hour. When they indicate the time, they rarely say fifteen, as a rule, replace it with the word (a) quarter :

7:15 - quarter past seven (a quarter after seven)

3:15 - quarter past three

The last mark on the clock with the word past will half past. After half, another countdown begins, not after the last hour, but until the next hour, using the word to(before). The format of the expression is: how much is left + until how much:

5:35 - twenty five to six (twenty five to six)

5:40 - twenty to six (twenty to six)

5:45 - quarter to six (quarter to six)

5:50 - ten to six (ten to six)

5:55 - five to six (five to six)

If you need to specify number of minutes not a multiple of five, the word is used minutes :

Three minutes past four - 4:03

Sixteen minutes past eight

Twenty-two minutes to two- 1:38

Seven minutes to ten - 9:53

When indicating time, the preposition is used

At half past four - at half past four (half after four)

At three o "clock - at three o'clock

At quarter to seven - at fifteen to seven (a quarter to seven)

Twelve o'clock is usually called - twelve o'clock, but you can say:

at none- at noon
at midday- at noon
at midnight- at midnight

In everyday communication, they prefer to call the time according to the usual clock, in which there are twelve hours. Abbreviations are used to distinguish night from day. a.m. And p.m. As soon as they are not interpreted by the students! In fact, both abbreviations come from Latin:

a.m. - ante meridiem- before noon, denotes the time from midnight to noon (night and morning)

p.m. - post meridiem- after noon, time from noon to midnight (afternoon and evening).

These abbreviations can be heard in conversation when it is necessary to clarify what time of day is meant. Also, in American English, () is sometimes replaced past on after, a to on of:

Five past six - five after six - five past seven (five after six)

Twenty to eight - twenty of eight - twenty to eight (twenty to eight)

Time by electronic clock ( digital clock or twenty-four hour clock), in which the time is indicated by numbers from 0 hours to 24 hours, is indicated differently. This system is commonly used in schedules, schedules, programs, official announcements, military orders.

The 24-hour clock system, which we will now discuss, is also called " military time" ("War time"), because it is used in the army. It is so common to see these numbers on the airport scoreboard, in the train schedule, it is immediately clear what time is meant, however, "pronunciation" of time on an electronic clock is not an easy task. Hours and minutes are not separated from each other , so we are dealing with a four-digit number.
For comparison, we offer you a table for indicating the time according to the 12-hour system and the 24-hour system:

As you can see, if the hour is "even", without minutes, then the first digit is called and the words are added hundred hours. If minutes are present, then the four-digit number is divided by two and each is called separately + hours:

0945 - oh nine forty-five hours
1126 - eleven twenty-six hours
1757 - seventeen fifty-seven hours
0130 - zero one thirty hours

In everyday conversation, this notation of time is rarely used, usually the time is indicated in a 12-hour format.

To find out the time, they usually ask:

What time is it?
Have you got the time?
What's the time?
Could you tell me the time, please?

All of the above questions translate the same way: What time is it now? How much time? Last question sounds the most polite: Can you tell me what time it is?

Be aware of the English time rules so you can always answer these questions. I wish you success!

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We in Russia, Ukraine and many other countries are used to the fact that there are 24 hours in one day. However, there are places where this is not the case. No, they are not on another planet that rotates faster or slower than the Earth. The fact is that they consider time in a different format.

Many have seen the abbreviations AM and PM, but few people thought about what they mean. Below we will just figure out what AM and PM are and why.

AM PM - time

AM and PM are abbreviations that stand for the following:

• AM- Ante Meridiem (in translation - before noon);
• PM– Post Meridiem (“ Afternoon«).

Thus, the day is divided into two parts - equal to 12 hours.

As you can see, everything is very simple. The only difficulty lies in adapting to the appropriate format. Usually, people who come, for example, to the United States or Australia, at first get very confused when they try to find out the time not by their watches.

Where the AM and PM system is used

The corresponding time system is used to varying degrees in many countries. However, it is most prevalent in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines.

Partially it is applied in Ireland, France and Greece. But the list is not limited to this. There are more than a hundred countries where the division of the day according to the AM and PM system is used in informal communication, despite the officially adopted 24-hour system.

It should be noted that Russia also belongs to these countries. Here many say, for example: 3 hours (meaning day) or 2 hours (meaning night). On the other hand, in this case, not exactly the AM / PM system is used, but the designation by time of day (example: 8 pm instead of 8 pm), but the essence does not change.

Problems that arise due to differences in time systems

The calculation of time is regulated by the ISO 8601 standard. However, despite this, in different parts planets, there are several solutions for how to designate midnight and noon. The result is confusion.

The fact is that Meridiem in English, it literally translates as "noon" or "midday", which makes it linguistically impossible to accurately attribute exactly 12 noon and 12 noon to PM or AM (they can be either the first or the second). In view of this, in some countries exactly midnight can be denoted as both PM and AM (the same applies to noon). Despite the fact that such errors by and large inherent in informal communication, they can also affect the conduct of business. For example, a trader may say that he will close the trade at 12.00PM, when in fact he meant 00.00 in the 24-hour system.

The problem is partially solved by introducing American system. In it, it is customary not to use 12:00 at all, whether it is midnight or noon. Instead, 11:59 AM is used if the end of the day is to be defined, and 12:01 PM is used if the next day is to be started. A difference of 1 minute is generally not significant, and where it matters, the 24-hour system is used. I think you figured out what AM and PM mean and can easily navigate the time.

Video illustration of AM and PM designations

In contact with

Hello, dear readers of the blog site. It seems to be a question, but how often does it arise. For example, when working with English-language services, it is always difficult for me to immediately remember what time it is 10.00 PM in terms of our time feeling (do you mean morning or evening?). And in general, where did these AM and PM come from, who needs them and why not use only the 24-hour format?

Well, here is a question, probably from the same area as the use of right-hand traffic in some countries - it just so happened and nothing can be done here. You just need to deal with these a.m.'s once and for all. and p.m. (to get into your head the relationship with the 24-hour ruler), well, or at worst, write yourself a cheat sheet (if, like in my head, nothing lasts for a particularly long time). Where to write? Yes, right here, i.e. on your blog pages. So I will do...

Are we really that far away from the 12 hour time format?

The time format using AM and PM is widespread not only in the bourgeoisie, sometimes its echoes can be observed in the Runet space (mainly in localized bourgeois projects). For example, known to many bloggers, he suggests choosing the time for sending letters to subscribers based on the 12-hour format, and not the 24-hour one:

It seems that the time zone also indicates that here a.m. and p.m. do not understand, and the interface is translated into Russian. No, habit is second nature. And how do I understand 11:00 am - 1:00 pm? Is it from 11 am to 1 pm or from 11 pm to 1 am? You need to google, and so every time, to know for sure ...

Although, I, probably, in vain so attacked the bourgeoisie with their AM and PM. If you think about it, then you and I also half live in a 12-hour world. For example, when they ask you the time, you don’t answer that it’s now fifteen minutes to eighteen, but say that it’s fifteen minutes to six, and in the evenings or mornings - a person is able to determine for himself. In this regard, we are the same.

At the same time, in Russian-language texts, in most cases (yes, always) the 24-hour time scale is used. But here we have an arrow clock, again in a 12-hour format. It would probably be difficult to fit 24 hours there and it would look overloaded.

And here digital clock again, we have 24-hour clocks, and the Americans, judging by the films, have 12-hour clocks with a.m. and p.m.

Oh, how everything in life is messed up, if you think about it.

Decoding and nuances of using A.M. and P.M.

But this is all verbiage, and what does AM and PM mean?(how these abbreviations are deciphered). It turns out that these abbreviations are Latin and literally mean the following:

1. AM - before noon
2. PM - after noon (this, by the way, is easier to remember, because the first letters in the Russian and Latin names are the same)

This can be quite well illustrated by the following two pointer chronometers:

Then PM is evening and AM is morning. Everything seems to be simple, but there is a small problem. It's all good until it's over before noon or midnight, i.e. rendezvous cycles a.m. and p.m.

In general, it turns out that different countries, accepting a 12-hour cycle, these moments can be celebrated in different ways ( and 12 p.m. and 12 a.m.). Thus, there are discrepancies (such as "the glass is half full or it is half empty"). For me, it would be more logical to use not 12 p.m., but 0 p.m., which would be much more logical, but the bourgeoisie knows better. The result is this, in my opinion, absurdity:

After 12 a.m. goes 01a.m. etc. And after 12p.m. goes 01p.m. I personally have a hard time getting used to it (how can a 1 come after 12?). Americans generally mark midnight in documents as 11:59 p.m., and noon as 12:01 a.m., so that there are no legal incidents and discrepancies. They are kinda weird...

AM and PM to 24 hour conversion table

Well, the full plate of correspondence between 12 and 24-hour time format will then look like this:

Good luck to you! See you soon on the blog pages site

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Today, once and for all, we will find out what am and pm mean in English, how these abbreviations are deciphered and how to correctly call time from them.

What is the difference between am and pm?

AM and PM are abbreviations used to indicate the time of day. Both of them came to English from Latin.

AM (ante meridiem) - before noon [hey um]
PM (post meridiem) - after noon [pi em]

They can be found in countries where the twelve-hour time format is adopted. These include Canada, USA, New Zealand and the Philippines. Together with the generally accepted 24-hour format, 12-hour is also used in the UK, Brazil and a number of other countries. They can indicate the time in any way. In other countries, the twenty-four-hour time format is adopted, which is familiar to us.

The 12-hour format divides the day (24 hours) into two segments of twelve hours.

We use a.m. when talking about the interval from 12 noon (midnight) to 12 noon (noon). That is, from 00:00 to 12:00.

For example:
It's two a.m. - Two in the morning (2:00).
It's five a.m. - Five in the morning (5:00).
It's ten a.m. - Ten in the morning (10:00).
He comes at 9 a.m. - He comes at 9 am.
The train leaves at 11 a.m. - The train leaves at 11 am.

p.m. We use it when we talk about the interval from 12 noon (noon) to 12 midnight (midnight). That is, from 12:00 to 00:00.

For example:
It "s two p.m. - Two in the afternoon (14:00).
It's five p.m. - Five pm (17:00).
It's ten p.m. - Ten in the evening (22:00).
We met at 11 p.m. - We met at 11 pm.
The train leaves at 11 p.m. - The train leaves at 11 pm.

Noon and midnight

Despite international standards designations of the 12-hour format - there is still no unambiguity between the designation of such insidious time as "noon" and "midnight".

Some indicate noon as "12 a.m." ("12 ante meridiem", or "12 o'clock until midday"). By this logic, midnight can also be referred to as "12 p.m." (12 post meridiem or 12 hours after the previous midday).

National maritime museum Greenwich suggests designating midnight as "12 o'clock at night" and noon as "12 o'clock in the afternoon". And many American certified style guides suggest designating midnight as 11.59 p.m. to emphasize the end of one day, but already designate the beginning of the next day as 12.01 a.m..

By the way, it is precisely because of the difficulties in understanding and determining time using the 12-hour format that the US Army has been using the 24-hour format since the Second World War, which avoids errors in navigation and marking the time of hostilities.

If in doubt about how to correctly indicate this time of day, discard the numbers and say in full:

Midday - noon
Midnight - midnight

For more information on how to talk about the time of day in English, see this article:

Comparison table of 24-hour and 12-hour time formats

How to write and use am and pm correctly?

There are several ways to write the 12-hour time format:

> Dotted: a.m. and p.m.
> No dots: am and pm
> In words: AM and PM

The most correct of the three is spelling with dots, but you can often find the other two. In any case, these designations are placed after the numbers, like the well-known o'clock.

Very often the abbreviations am and pm are found on electronic clock, in the time of work of the enterprise, as well as in the schedule of traffic or classes.

For example, if you see "The office is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.", it will mean that the office hours are from 9 am to 6 pm.

Also, be careful when scheduling a meeting and make sure that your interlocutor understands the agreed time correctly.

Example sentences with am and pm with translation

It is five fifteen AM- It's five fifteen in the morning.

It's eight thirty PM- It's eight thirty in the evening.

We must send this letter at 2 a.m.- We have to send this letter at two o'clock in the morning.

Tomorrow I'll wake up at 6 am, not later- Tomorrow I will wake up at six in the morning, not later.

Today I'm going to work up to 8 p.m.- Today I'm going to work until 8 pm.

It is not polite to call somebody concerning a job offer before or after working hours, or during weekends. Also it is better to make personal calls from 9 a.m. till 10 p.m.- It is impolite to call someone about work before or after work hours or during weekends. Also, it is better to make personal calls from 9 am to 10 pm.

Pharmacies in Prague are usually open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. and on Saturday from 9 a.m. till noon- Pharmacies in Prague are usually open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5:30 pm and on Saturdays from 9 am to noon.

The hotel offers 10 guest rooms, a secured car parking and a restaurant with working hours from 9 a.m. till 11 p.m.- The hotel offers 10 guest rooms, secure parking and a restaurant open from 9 am to 11 pm.

From 7 a.m. till 11 a.m. buffet breakfast is served for the guests of the hotel's restaurant on the first floor- From 7 am to 11 am, breakfast is served at the hotel's restaurant on the ground floor.

Children under 16 may not be hired for work from 8 p.m. till 6 a.m. Teenagers under 18 may not be hired for work from 10 p.m. till 6 a.m., or from 11 p.m. till 7 a.m.- Children under the age of 16 cannot be employed from 8pm to 6am. Teenagers under the age of 18 cannot be hired from 10pm to 6am or from 11pm to 7am.