How to Tell the Time

Last updated: 5 October 2026

To tell the time, look at the short hour hand first — it shows which hour you’re travelling through, not the nearest number. Then look at the long minute hand: each number is worth 5 minutes. At 3:30 the minute hand is on 6 (30 minutes) and the hour hand sits halfway between 3 and 4.

The two hands

An analogue clock has two main hands, and they do different jobs. The hour hand is short and slow: it tells you which hour you are in. The minute hand is long and fast: it tells you how many minutes have passed since that hour began. When the minute hand goes all the way round once, 60 minutes have passed — one hour — and the hour hand has moved on by exactly one number.

The mistake almost every child makes

Three clocks: 3 o'clock with the hour hand on 3, half past 3 with the hour hand halfway to 4, and 3:55 with the hour hand nearly at 4 — still the 3 o'clock hour.

At 3:45 the hour hand is very close to the 4, so many children say “4:45”. But the hour hand doesn’t jump from number to number — it travels slowly all the way from 3 to 4 during the hour. As long as it hasn’t reached the 4, we are still in the 3 o’clock hour. A good question to ask is: “Which number has the hour hand already passed?”

O’clock and half past

At o’clock the minute hand points straight up at 12, and the hour hand points exactly at the hour: at 5 o’clock it is right on the 5. At half past, the minute hand has travelled halfway round and points at 6 — 30 minutes have passed. Look at the hour hand too: at half past 5 it sits halfway between 5 and 6. That small detail is the key to reading every other time.

The five-minute scale

A clock with the five-minute labels 00 to 55 around it; the minute hand points at 7, which means 35 minutes past the hour.

The numbers on a clock are the hours, but for the minute hand each number is worth 5 minutes: 1 is 5 minutes, 2 is 10, 3 is 15, and so on up to 11, which is 55. So when the minute hand points at 7, it is 35 minutes past the hour — not 7. Counting round the clock in fives out loud is the quickest way to make this stick.

Try at home

The human clock. Your child stands with arms out: a short arm for hours, a long arm for minutes. Call out a time and let them make it — then check where the short arm should really be.
Count in fives. Walk a finger round a real clock face counting 5, 10, 15… until it lands on the minute hand.
What time will it be? At an o’clock, ask “what time will it be in 10 minutes?” and watch the minute hand together to check.

Next, read about quarter past and quarter to, or see the guide for parents for more ideas.

Practise with Digi in Time Quest →