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Grammar 2: Telling Time: TIME EXPRESSIONS
Grammar 2: Telling Time: TIME EXPRESSIONS
In this lesson you will learn how to express the time with fractions of the hour as well as the basic required vocabulary. To start, you will need to learn these words. One minute please! five minutes What is the time? p.m. a minute minutes the hour (o'clock) a.m.
When telling the time you always mention the hour first and then the minutes using the conjunction wa. For example,
If the time involves the major fractions of the hour such as 15, 20, or 30 minutes, you always use (a quarter), (a third), or (a half) respectively as in the following examples. Note that the fractions are always definite.
The only time when you use combinations of minutes and fractions is when you tell the time with reference to the half of an hour as in the case of 35 minutes.
You would do the same with 25 minutes with the only difference of using illa (except/minus) instead of wa.
After 35 minutes you use only illa (minus) as well as the fractions or minutes with reference to the following hour.