How to Read an Analog or Digital Clock: Telling Time for Beginners

Even though the world runs on digital time these days, reading an analog clock is a useful skill that's easy to master with a little time and effort. In this article, we’ll review how to tell time on analog clocks and digital clocks with easy step-by-step instructions. We’ll also cover special time phrases you might hear, so you’re never confused about what time it is. Keep scrolling to learn more!

How do you read a clock?

The shortest hand points to the hour of the time if it’s on a number. If it’s between numbers, the smaller number is the hour. The longer hand determines the minutes based on which tick mark it’s pointing to (the clock face is divided into 60 minutes with tick marks, and each number on the clock represents 5 minutes).

Section 1 of 4:

Reading an Analog Clock

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1
Learn how a clock is divided. The circle of a clock is divided into 12 sections. On top of the clock, you will see the number 12. To the right of the 12, you will see a 1. If you follow the numbers going to the right (the “clockwise” direction), they will move from 1 to 12.^{[1]
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- Each number from 1 to 12 marks the hour of the time.
- The sections between the hour numbers are divided into 5-minute segments. For example, there are 5 minute markers between 12 and 1, 1 and 2, 2 and 3, etc. These lines determine the minute of the time.
- Sometimes, there are tiny lines running along the clock showing each individual minute for easier time-telling.
2
Use the little hand to read the hour. All clocks have 2 hands: a little (short) hand and a big (long) hand. The little hand, or hour hand, marks the hour of the time. Whichever number it's pointing to is the hour of the day. If the hour hand is between 2 numbers, the smaller number (the number to the left or “counterclockwise” direction) is the hour.^{[2]
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- For example, if the little hand is pointing to the number 1, it's in the 1 o'clock hour.
- If the hand is between the numbers 4 and 5, it’s in the 4 o’clock hour (not 5 o’clock).
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3
Use the big hand to read the minutes. If the big hand is pointing directly at a number, multiply that number by 5 to determine the minutes (since there are 5 minutes per number on the clock). For example, if it’s pointing at 3, then it is 15 minutes past the hour. The exception to this rule is when the minute hand is pointing at 12. The number 12 represents the “top of the hour,” or 0 minutes past the hour. So, if the minute hand is pointing at 12 and the hour hand is at 4, it is exactly 4 o’clock (or 4:00).^{[3]
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- If the big hand is between two numbers, look at which tiny minute line it’s pointing to. For example, if it’s on the third dash after the number 1, it is 8 minutes past the hour (1 x 5 = 5, plus 3 more dashes makes 8).
4
Put the hour and minute together to get the time. Once you've found the hour and the minutes, you can tell the time! For example:^{[4]
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- If the little hand is pointing to 1 and the big hand is pointing to 12, it is exactly 1 o'clock.
- If the little hand is pointing to 1 and the big hand is pointing to 2, it is one-ten (1:10) or “ten minutes past one.”
- If the little hand is pointing to 1, and the big hand is halfway between the 2 and 3, it is around one-twelve (1:12) or “twelve minutes past one.”
5
Differentiate between AM and PM. A clock won’t tell you whether the time is AM (after midnight and before noon) or PM (after noon and before midnight), so use your common sense to decide which is correct. For example, if it's early in the morning and the little hand is pointing to 9 and the big hand is pointing to 12, it's 9 o'clock AM (9 o’clock PM, on the other hand, would be at night).
- 12 o’clock AM is also called midnight (or 12 midnight), while 12 o’clock PM is called noon (or 12 noon).^{[5]
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- AM stands for ante meridiem (Latin for “before midday”) and PM stands for post meridiem (“after midday”).^{[6]
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Read the seconds hand (optional). Some analog clocks and watches come with a third hand (longer and skinnier than the hour or minute hands) that tells you how many seconds past the minute you are. The same tick marks that divide the clock face into 60 minutes also divide each minute into 60 seconds. So, to figure out what the second is, read the third hand the exact same way you would read the minute hand.^{[7]
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- For example, if the time is 7:19 and the third hand is on the number 4, you would say the time is 7:19:20 or 7:19 and 20 seconds.
- You don’t need to read the seconds hand to tell the time in most cases (by the time you figure out the time, the second will have already changed). But, using this hand can be useful for countdowns, setting timers, or just watching the time go by (literally!).

Section 2 of 4:

Reading a Digital Clock

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1
Read the first number to determine the hour. A digital clock is made up of 2 numbers separated by a colon. The first number on a digital clock marks the hour.^{[8]
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- For example, if the first number reads "2," it's in the 2 o'clock hour.
2
Read the second number to determine the minutes. The second number on a digital clock, found after the colon, marks the minutes into the hour.^{[9]
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- For example, if it reads "11," it is 11 minutes into the hour.
3
Put these together to get the time and determine if it’s AM or PM. Once you have both the numbers, you should be able to tell the time. If the clock reads "2:11," this means the time is "two-eleven" or "eleven past two."^{[10]
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- Most digital clocks and watches will indicate whether the time is AM or PM. If not, just remember that times between midnight and noon are AM, and times after noon but before midnight are PM.

Section 3 of 4:

Learning Common Time Words

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Certain times have special phrases to describe them. Sometimes, you might hear a phrase like “half past seven” or “a quarter to 3” to describe the time. These phrases aren’t as common as they used to be, but they’re still handy to know when you’re communicating the time. Here’s a quick guide to some special time words and their meanings:^{[11]
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- “A quarter past”: Let’s say the time is 8:15. Since 15 is a quarter of 60 (the total number of minutes in an hour), you could say the time is “a quarter past 8.’
- “A quarter to”: Now let’s imagine it’s 8:45. Since there are 15 minutes left until 9:00, you could say it’s “a quarter to 9.”
- “Half past”: Pretend it’s 6:30. Since 30 is half of 60, you could say the time is “half past 6” (AKA, halfway between 6 and 7 o’clock).
- “To” or “past”: technically, you can say it’s any number of minutes to or past an hour. For example, if it’s 1:50, you could say it’s “10 to 2.” For 3:20, you could say it’s “20 past 3.” This usually works best with easy numbers like 5, 10, or 20, since saying “it’s 23 to 6” is a little awkward and requires some mental math.

Section 4 of 4:

Reading Clock Variations

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1
Some analog clocks and watches use Roman numerals instead of numbers. You read these clocks the exact same way you would read a typical clock, only with Roman numerals instead of the everyday numbers we use. Here’s a quick recap of Roman numerals from 1 to 12:^{[12]
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- 1: I
- 2: II
- 3: III
- 4: IV
- 5: V
- 6: VI
- 7: VII
- 8: VIII
- 9: IX
- 10: X
- 11: XI
- 12: XII
2
Some clocks don’t have numbers at all. They may have symbols marking the hours instead, or sometimes, there’s nothing on the clock or watch at all! In these cases, mentally mark the topmost symbol or spot on the clock as 12, the bottom as 6, the right as 3, and the left as 9. You can mentally fill in the other numbers to get an estimate of the time.
- If there are other symbols where the numbers usually are, you can tell the time accurately (assuming there are minute tick marks between the symbols).
- If there are no symbols or tick marks, you’ll have to make your most educated guess. These types of clocks and watches are usually decorative and aren’t used for serious or precise timekeeping.
3
Some digital clocks display military time (24-hour time). Military or 24-hour time uses the numbers 0 through 23 to mark the hours (instead of repeating 1 through 12 twice) to eliminate confusion between AM and PM times. Luckily, it is easy to convert military time to 12-hour time! From 1 AM to noon (12 PM), military time looks the same as civilian time except that numbers lower than 10 are marked with a zero in front of them (for example, 9 o'clock AM is written as 0900). After noon, you have to do some simple math to determine time:^{[13]
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- Instead of repeating hours, 1:00 PM becomes 1300, 2:00 is 1400, 3:00 is 1500, etc.
- To convert these to 12-hour or civilian time, subtract 12 from the 2-digit hour number. If it’s 2257, you would take 12 away from 22, meaning it’s 1057 (10:57 PM).
- From midnight until 1:00 AM, the hour is written as 00 (so 0032 would be 12:32 AM).

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How do I read the clock a bit faster?

Community Answer

Always start with the little hand and remember each big number counts by fives. Just practice until you get faster.

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What time is it when the small hand is on 8 and the big hand is on the 6?

Community Answer

The small hand indicates which hour it is and the big hand indicates what minute it is in 5 minute Increments so when the small hand is on the 8, it indicates the eighth hour. The big hand on 6 indicates 30 minutes, so it is 8:30.

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When the hour hand is on the 8 and the minute hand is on the 3, what's the time?

Community Answer

8:15. When the hour hand is on the 8 that's 8:00, and when the minute hand is on the 3 that means 15 minutes, so the answer is 8:15.

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If you see another hand that moves quickly around the face of the clock, you are looking at the second hand. The second hand is not typically used to state time.

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