Telling Time

Reading a clock means using its hands or digital display to determine the time. On a traditional analog clock, the face is usually divided into 12 numbered sections, and the hands move around a circular dial. The shorter hand indicates the hour, while the longer hand indicates the minutes.

When the minute hand points to 12, the hour hand shows the exact hour. As the minute hand moves from one number to the next, five minutes pass. A complete turn of the minute hand takes 60 minutes, while the hour hand makes one complete turn in 12 hours. Some clocks also have a thin second hand, which completes a full turn in 60 seconds.

To read an analog clock accurately, first identify the hour hand, then look at the minute hand. If the minute hand points to 4, for example, 20 minutes have passed after the hour. When the hour hand lies between two numbers, the current hour is the smaller one until the next hour begins.

Time can also be written digitally, such as 7:20 or 19:20. In the 12-hour system, times are commonly described using a.m. and p.m., while the 24-hour system counts from 00:00 to 23:59. Learning to read a clock helps children understand the sequence of hours and minutes and connect written times with events in their daily routines.