Quarter Past and Quarter To, Explained
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Quarter past means 15 minutes after the hour (3:15 = quarter past 3). Quarter to means 15 minutes before the next hour (3:45 = quarter to 4) — because 45 minutes have passed and only one quarter of the hour is left.
An hour has four quarters
Imagine the clock face as a circle cut into four equal slices, like a pizza. Each slice is a quarter of the hour, and because an hour has 60 minutes, each quarter is 60 ÷ 4 = 15 minutes. One quarter is 15 minutes, two quarters are 30 minutes (half an hour), three quarters are 45 minutes, and four quarters make the whole hour.
Quarter past
At 3:15 the minute hand has travelled one quarter of the way round, from the 12 to the 3. One quarter of the hour has passed since 3 o’clock, so we say quarter past 3. On a timeline from 3:00 to 4:00, it is the first of four equal jumps.
Quarter to
This is the one most children find tricky. At 3:45 the minute hand has travelled three quarters of the way round, to the 9. Three quarters of the hour have passed — and only one quarter is left before 4 o’clock. So instead of counting forward from 3, we look ahead to the hour that is coming and say quarter to 4: a quarter of an hour to go until 4.
Two common mix-ups to watch for: saying “quarter to 3” (the wrong hour — “to” always names the next hour), and thinking quarter to 4 means 4:15 (it is before 4, not after). Asking “has it got to 4 o’clock yet?” usually sorts both out.
The same moment, four ways
An analogue clock with the minute hand on 9, the digital time 3:45, the words “quarter to four” and a point three quarters along a timeline from 3:00 to 4:00 are not four different answers. They are one moment, shown four ways. Moving between them is what turns a memorised phrase into understanding.
Try at home
- Quarter scavenger hunt. Through the day, spot a clock at quarter past or quarter to and ask your child to say which it is — and why.
- Paper quarters. Cut a paper circle into four, lay it on a clock face and fold back one quarter at a time: 15, 30, 45, 60.
- Is Digi right? Say a wrong reading on purpose — “3:45, that’s quarter past 3!” — and let your child explain the mistake.
Then try elapsed time, or go back to how to read a clock.