Telling Time: Write Out 17:27 In Words, In American And British English

17:27 (p.m.) Time to Words, in English: Write Clock Time in 12 Hour + 24 Hour Time, Converter

Converter of numerical time 17:27 (p.m.) to words: how to read, say and write what time is on the clock, 12 hour or 24 hour standard, regular (analog), digital and military

Telling time as: 1. Regular Analog Time. 2. Influenced by the digital. 3. Rounded up or down. 4. Military Time.

I. How to tell (the) time în English, American and British

The minutes:

• The 'number of minutes' is said first, followed by the 'number of hours', unless the hour is sharp (on the dot - i.e. five o'clock), in which case the number of minutes is not said.
• In our case the number of minutes is less than 30 (less than half an hour). The number of minutes is said as the time that has passed over the current hour.

The hours:

• Civil regular time day is divided into two 12-hour periods beginning alternately at 12 at midnight and at 12 at noon.
• Since our number of hours is more than a 12-hour period, subtract 12 from it: 17 - 12 = 5.

Analog vs. Digital

• This way of telling time was directly influenced by the way the analog clocks look like - those clocks with hands, as opposed to digital ones, which have a numerical display.
• That's why it's also said that time is told in analog format.

II. Writing and telling time in American English

1. Telling time using Regular Analog Time. Time written in words, in American English:

[ / ] - Either could be used.

17:27 = twenty-seven minutes [ after / past ] five in the afternoon.

2. Telling time using Casual Time, influenced by the digital. Time said in words, in American English:

• Note that in this case the number of hours is said first instead, followed by the number of minutes.
• To differentiate between the hours until noon and those after noon, an additional indicator is used to display time: a.m. (ante meridiem - before noon) and p.m. (post meridiem - after the noon).

p.m. = post meridiem (after the noon).

[ / ] - Either could be used.

17:27 = five twenty-seven [ p.m. / in the afternoon].

3. Telling time using Casual Time, Rounded Up or Down. Time written down, in American English:

• When telling time many of us use to round off the number of minutes to the nearest multiple of 5.

≈ approximately equal.

[ / ] - Either could be used.

17:27 ≈ twenty-five [ after / past ] five in the afternoon.

4. Telling time using Military Time. Time in writing, in American English:

• Military time is used to avoid any possible confusion between a.m. - ante meridiem (morning, before noon) and p.m. - post meridiem (after the noon).
• Each day is made up of a single 24-hour period, beginning at midnight.
• No semicolon between numeric hours and minutes.
• The number of hours is said first, followed by the number of minutes, then the word 'hours'.

1727 hours = seventeen twenty-seven hours.

• Military time used to avoid any confusion between a.m. and p.m. hours.

III. Writing and telling the time 17:27 in (UK) British English

1. Telling the time, Regular Analog Time:

twenty-seven minutes past five in the afternoon.

2. Telling the time, Casual Time:

five twenty-seven [ p.m. / in the afternoon].

[ / ] - Either could be used.

p.m. = post meridiem (after the noon).

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Analog clocks - Did you know?

• The minute hand revolves 12 times faster than the hour hand: the hour hand goes once around the clock every 12 hours while the minute hand goes once around the clock every 1 hour.
• The second hand revolves 60 times faster than the minute hand: the minute hand goes once around the clock every 60 minutes, while the second hand goes once around the clock every one minute; and 12 × 60 = 720 times faster than the hour hand.
• The way we are telling time is a direct result of the way the analog clocks (mechanical clocks, with hands) looked like in the past (they still look almost the same).

Telling (the) Time: How to Say and Write Out (the) Time in (US) American and (UK) British English. Civil, Military and Casual Time to Words

Getting Started:

• One hour (1h) is 60 minutes, and one day is 24 hours (24h).
• In order to read the time, one day can be divided into two 12-hour (12h) periods, both for analog clocks, with hands and digital clocks, or in a single 24-hour (24h) period in the case of digital clocks.
• The electronic clocks show the time such as: "hh:mm ss", where hh represent the hours, mm represent the minutes and ss the seconds. The electronic clocks can use the two 12-hour (12h) periods or the 24-hour (24h) period time representation (time keeping system).
• In the case of 24h system the time runs continuously between 00:00 (at midnight), it passes by the 12:00 (at noon) to almost reach again the midnight at one minute before zero, at 23:59.
• In the case of 12h time system the midnight is 12:00 a.m. while the noon is 12 p.m.
• The equivalent of the 24-hour system 11:00 hours in the 12-hour system is 11:00 a.m. (the same). The equivalent of 13:00 hours is 01:00 p.m. (subtract 12 from 13).
• a.m. = ante meridiem (morning, before noon).
• p.m. = post meridiem (after the noon).

Time in Digital Format:

• Day is divided into two 12-hour periods beginning alternately at midnight and noon, in the case of the electronic watches that display the time in the 12h system, or in a single period of 24-hour, in the case of the watches that display the time in the 24 system.
• a.m. = ante meridiem (morning, before noon).
• p.m. = post meridiem (after the noon).
• When telling time the hours are said first then the minutes.
• In the digital format, when the minutes are said, they always indicate how many minutes have passed over the current hour.

Civil Time (Using the 12-hour System Time):

• Day is divided into two 12-hour periods beginning alternately at 12 at midnight and at 12 at noon.
• When telling time the number of minutes is said first then the hours.
• When the minutes are said they either indicate how many minutes have passed over the current hour, or how many minutes are there up to the next hour. If more than 30 minutes have passed over the current hour, the minutes will indicate the number of minutes remaining until the next hour, otherwise they'll indicate the number of minutes that have passed over the current hour.

Military Time (using the 24-hour system time):

• The 12 hour system could create an unnecessary source of errors (as to which of the two iterations of a given hour is occurring in the 12-hour system) in areas where errors are not acceptable, ie. military, police, medical, emergency services. The Military Time is even used by individuals who live and work in polar environments (where a polar day could last for several months).
• In the Military Time, the day is made up of a single 24-hour period beginning at 00:00 midnight. Each hour in the day is unique and cannot be confused with any other.
• There are no semicolon between the numeric hours and minutes, ie. instead of 19:55 Civil Time you must write 1955 Military Time.

Casual Time (using the 12-hour system time):

• This is the digital time in the 12h system. See the paragraph above. But instead of a.m. or p.m. one could also say "in the morning", or "in the afternoon", or "in the evening", or "at night"...

» Learn by Examples, Read the Full Article: Telling (the) Time: How to Say and Write Out (the) Time in Words in American and British English. Civil, Military and Casual Time to Words

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