Telling time 1 - past, after, to, and till

Introduction
Hi, Lori here welcoming you to another episode of Real English Conversations from BetterAtEnglish.com. oday!s conversation is a"out some of the differences "etween American and British English usage when it comes to telling time. his conversation also mar#s the first appearance of my very own mom here on B$E. %he give us her perspective on American usage, while my English friend &ichael 'whom you #now from earlier podcasts( returns this episode to cover the British point of view. his episode follows directly from the previous episode, num"er )), so if this is your first time listening to our podcasts you should listen to episode )) first. he pdf that goes with this episode contains the full transcript, the voca"ulary list, the image of cloc#s that I used to elicit time e*pressions from my mom and &ichael, and some usage notes a"out time e*pressions in British and American English. +ou can download it directly in i unes, or visit "etteratenglish.com and download from there. I thin# that!s enough introduction for today ,, let!s get on with the conversation-

Conversation ranscript
.Lori/ In this informal language experiment, I showed my mom a picture of four clock faces and asked her to read me the times. This was to see what prepositions she would use, particularly if she would avoid the preposition past as Yvette's former teachers claimed Americans do.0 &om/ 12, well starting on the top left I have ten m minutes after nine, and then the ne*t one to the right is twenty, five after seven, and then on the "ottom left is five past si* and the last one on the "ottom right is a 3uarter past twelve. 12- 4erfect- +ou scored 5667 8ow, I got 5667- I do #now how to tell time on a regular analog cloc#12...now this is very interesting "ecause you are a native American spea#er, and you haven!t had...I dou"t you!ve had much e*posure to British English and definitely not ever had to teach English using British English materials or anything li#e that. 9o, for sure. +eah, the pro"lem is..is that sometimes when non,native spea#ers are learning English, teachers will tell them misguided rules that they may"e read in some outdated "oo# somewhere saying things li#e, :In American English you have to use after when you tal# a"out time; you can!t use past.: +eah, I thin# one time I said past..I thin# I said five past six. In fact I purposely said past "ecause I was trying to give you some variety of the difference...we can tell time..."ecause Americans will say past. +eah- hat!s what I thin# as well, that I...may"e naturally I!d "e more li#ely to say after "ut I wouldn!t thin# it was weird or strange if someone said past. 9o...no, that!s e*actly...!cause...I thin# the first couple of times I said after and then I thought, :1h I!m going to give her a little variety,: so I!ll say five past six "ecause we do say that, "ut it!s...I mean we wouldn!t thin# it!s odd. 12, that!s great, and that!s really <ust the point I wanted to ma#e... that often...

Lori/ &om/ Lori/

&om/ Lori/

&om/

Lori/ &om/

Lori/

= >656 BetterAtEnglish.com info .A 0 "etteratenglish .?1 0 com

&om/ Lori/ &om/ Lori/

In fact I thin# we especially do it with with...on the half hour, we say half past twelve. Right, right, half past twelve, definitely. +eah, you wouldn!t say half after twelve. Nuh-uh, we always say past for then. %ee, we use "oth. And the interesting thing is I used analog cloc#s on purpose "ecause I was worried that if I <ust wrote the times in digital time you would have said, for e*ample, seven twenty,five. E*actly, !cause that!s what you see on a digital cloc#. %o anyway, that was my little e*periment12-

&om/ Lori/ &om/

.laughter0 .Lori/ Lori/ After doing the experiment with my mom, I went on and did the same experiment with Michael to get the ritish perspective.0 ...and read the times that you see on the cloc#s.

&ichael/+eah, it!s ten past nine... that!s from the top left. he top right is twenty,five past seven. he "ottom left..err..five past si*, and the "ottom right one is 3uarter past twelve. Lori/ 12, cool- +ou!ve also scored 5667. +ou can tell time on an analog cloc#And the reason that I as#ed you to do this is...I had a discussion with +vette the other day and she remem"ered learning when she was studying English, umm ,, she!s had "oth..."een e*posed to people, you #now, trying to teach her British English and American English ,, and she somehow was told that if you!re going to spea# British English you have to say past <ust li#e you <ust did, li#e, it!s ten past...

&ichael/ .laughs0 +ayLori/

&ichael/It!s true as well, it!s..in fact, I can tell you that...I mean she!s a"solutely right. I mean, never mind the e*perimenting, that is how we are taught. And I!ve never heard any"ody say ten after, you #now, three or something li#e that until I met an American person. Lori/ 12- 12, "ut did you still understand it the first time you heard...did it cause any pro"lems@

&ichael/1h it didn!t cause any any confusion... you say 56, you #now five past, ten past 3uarter past, twenty past, twenty,five past. Lori/ Ah,huh. &ichael/And when it!s around it!s around, it!s twenty,five to, twenty to, 3uarter to, ten to, five to... Lori/ Lori/ Right. 1h yeah, ten till si*, yeah 3uarter till, um,hmm. &ichael/But I!ve heard some American people say ten till.. &ichael/+ou never ever ever ever ever say that in British English, it!s always past and it!s to and it!s drummed into you. Lori/ 12, that!s 3uite interesting. &ichael/ here!s no variation whatsoever, "ut people can understand o"viously, I mean you!d have to "e a "it of a ."leep0 jerk to... Lori/ Am,hmm.

= >656 BetterAtEnglish.com

info .A 0 "etteratenglish .?1 0 com

&ichael/Being deli"erately obtuse if you!re going, :Huh@ I don!t get it.: +ou #now, "ecause it!s o"vious to anyone with half a brain, you #now, what it means. But it is...it stands out as "eing unusual !cause this is... yet we have this little cloc#s with the, you #now, the mova"le hands. Lori/ Lori/ +eah, analog cloc#s. In fact, I was 3uite cunning when I made the picture to send to you. I made...I used analog cloc#s on purpose <ust to elicit the preposition past, !cause if I had <ust written the times, li#e in digital format, you pro"a"ly would have said things li#e... &icheal/ +eah-

&ichael/9ine ten...yeah. But I don!t...I don!t say times li#e that anyway. I always do it the old, fashioned way. even after the advent of digital things "ecause my dad would belt me if I said it, err, you #now, the digital way, I!d... seriously, I!d get in trou"le when my parents would yell at me. Lori/ 1h, that!s funny why, why...?id they ever say why they didn!t li#e it@ &ichael/+es, they felt it was dumbing things down, err, and it meant that you #now you wouldn!t "e learning you wouldn!t #now how to tell the time properly. Err, "ecause if you <ust read it out li#e that...err...and...I mean I thin# they had a very good point, "ecause if you, you #now, if you only #new how to tell the time li#e that and then you were at, oh I don!t #now, some "ig train station somewhere where they had an analog cloc# and you!re going, :1h, umm, let me wor# out "la "la "la,: you #now, it!s...it!s not so good. Lori/ +eah, it!s definitely, I thin#, everyone needs to #now how to tell time on an analog cloc# "ut I wouldn!t go so far as to force people to use that every time they were tal#ing a"out time "ecause I thin# the digital system is so esta"lished now and it really ma#es perfect sense.

&ichael/+eah, and my, I mean, I can hear you hang on my parents are total ."leeping0 Nazis when it comes to... Lori/ Lori/ Lori/ .laughs in dis"elief0 +ou #now I!m going to have to bleep you out now. 8e!re not recording for Ancensored English&ichael/But anyway... I love them "ut they!re...you #now...misguided in the e*treme. &ichael/.laughs0

Binal 8ords
hat!s all for this time. 1f course, in these spontaneous conversations we can!t cover all of the usage issues that apply, and sometimes the e*amples we come up with on the spot might not "e the "est from a teaching perspective. %o to ma#e up for that I!ve added some e*tra usage notes to the pdf file for this episode. I hope you find them useful. han#s for listening, and "ye for now.Coca"ulary and usage notes on ne*t page0 If you enjoyed this lesson from Better@English, we'd really appreciate your support. There is a lot you can do to help: Tell your friends a out our we site, www. etteratenglish.com !rite a nice re"iew a out Better@English on iTunes #u scri e to our $##: http:%%feedpro&y.google.com% etteratenglish Than's(

= >656 BetterAtEnglish.com

info .A 0 "etteratenglish .?1 0 com

Vocabulary notes
analog misguided outdated Nuh-uh An analog clock uses hands (pointers) to show the time, not a digital readout. wrong or unsuitable based on bad judgment or on wrong information or beliefs. old-fashioned and not as good, correct or suitable as something modern or up-to-date. American English speakers often use this sound to agree with a negative statement, like in our example above. Listen to the audio and note the intonation. With a completely different intonation it is used to express disbelief. In this context, never mind means that something is not important. In our example, Michael is so clear about the rules for past and after that he doesn't need to do experiments. If you drum something into someone, you teach them something by frequently repeating it or reminding them of it. A jerk is someone who is unreasonable or stupid. Michael actually used a very vulgar synonym with roughly the same meaning. In this context, being obtuse means that you are purposely trying to be stupid or unable to understand. Anyone with half a brain means anyone who is not completely stupid. Clever, able to plan things so that you get what you want. To get or produce something, particularly information or a response. The arrival of an invention or an event. Informal for to hit or to strike. To dumb something down is a synonym for to simplify or to make easier, but it shows disapproval. In this context, a Nazi is a person who is unreasonably strict or concerned with following rules. Note that because of the Holocaust, using the word Nazi in this way could be considered offensive. To bleep something out means to replace a vulgar or offensive word with a hi-pitched tone. This is often done on television and radio programs.

never mind

drummed into jerk

obtuse half a brain cunning elicit advent belt dumbing things down Nazis

bleep you out

= >656 BetterAtEnglish.com

info .A 0 "etteratenglish .?1 0 com

Some time expressions in British and American English

TIME 9:05 9:10 9:15 9:25 9:30 Br. E five past nine nine oh five ten past nine nine ten quarter past nine nine fifteen twenty-five past nine nine twenty-five half past nine nine thirty half nine [NOTE! This form is not generally understood by Americans, and also causes a lot of confusion when speaking English with nonnative speakers because the equivalent form in different languages can mean 8:30 or 9:30. So I advise you to avoid this form altogether. 9:35 9:40 9:45 9:50 9:55 twenty-five (minutes*) to ten nine thirty-five twenty (minutes) to ten nine forty quarter to ten nine forty-five ten (minutes) to ten nine fifty five (minutes) to ten twenty-five (minutes) to/till ten nine thirty-five twenty (minutes) to/till ten nine forty a quarter to/till/of ten nine forty-five ten minutes to/till ten nine fifty five (minutes) to/till ten nine fifty-five Am. E five after/past nine nine oh five ten after/past nine nine ten a quarter after/past nine 9:15 twenty-five after/past nine nine twenty-five nine thirty half past nine (not half after!)

* using "minutes" is optional.

= >656 BetterAtEnglish.com

info .A 0 "etteratenglish .?1 0 com