Time and Dates

There are seven days in a week. The first day of the week is Sunday. The last day of the week is Saturday. The other days of the week are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Monday is the second day, Tuesday is the third day, Wednesday is the fourth day, Thursday is the fifth day and Friday is the sixth day. Saturday is the seventh day of the week.

There are three hundred and sixty-five days in a year. Seven days make a week. Two weeks or fourteen days make a fortnight. People usually do not work on Sunday. When do people usually work? People work all the other days of the week. Do you rest on Sunday? Yes, you do. All the days of the week are week-days.

There are twelve months in a year. They are: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, Septem­ber, October, November, December. January is the first month and December is the twelfth month or the last month of a year.

Time is indicated in many ways. The day is divided into 2 twelve-hour periods. We call them as a.m. (Latin: ante meridiem, i.e. before midday — noon) and p.m. (Latin: post meridiem, i.e. after midday — noon).

The time of the day is not the same in different coun­tries and places.

What do we do if we want to know the time? If we want to know the time we look at the watch or clock or at the alarm-clock.

There are two hands on the face of the clock. One hand is long and the other hand is short. The long hand is the minute hand. The short hand is the hour hand.

If you want to know the time you look at your watch, at a clock or may ask: "What time is it?" or "What is the time?" The answer may be: "It is five (o'clock) sharp."

Sixty minutes make an hour. From one o'clock to two o'clock is one hour. From one o'clock to six o'clock is five hours. There are twenty-four hours in a day.

E xercise 9. Read, learn and say what time is it now:

The clock

Analogue	Digital	Normal use		Timetables, TV, etc.
	6:00	It's 6 o'clock.
	6:05	It's 5 past 6.	past and the previous hour (here: 6)	It's six oh five.
	6:15	It's quarter past 6.		It's six fifteen.
	6:30	It's half past 6.		It's six thirty.
	6:35	It's 25 to 7.	to and the following hour (here: 7)	It's six thirty-five.
	6:45	It's quarter to seven.		It's six forty-five.
	6:55	It's 5 to 7.		It's six fifty-five.
	7:00	It's 7o'clock.

*Tips: 1) In English there is no 24-hour-system (sometimes it is used on TV and in timetables). 15.00 is 3 o'clock (p.m.) (on TV: fifteenhundred). That's why you use a.m. (Latin: ante meridiem) and p.m. (post meridiem) in situations where it's necessary to point out that you want to say "in the morning" or "in the evening". In other situations (or when it's clear that school starts in the morning and the party in the evening) it's left out.

Example:

Germany	England
0:00	midnight
0:01	12:01 a.m.
8:00		8:00 a.m.
12:00	noon
12:01	12:01 p.m.
14:00	2 p.m.
18:00	6 p.m.
23:59	11:59 p.m.

- o'clock (abbreviation: "of the clock") only on the hour; - quarter = 15 minutes; half = 30 minutes; - multiplies of 5: leave out the word "minutes" (but: 6.01 - It's one minute past six.

*Exercise 11. Read and translate the dialogues. Make up your own using the following as the model:

Dialogue 1:

A: Look at those clouds. How black they are! There's a thunderstorm coming on. Aren't you afraid?

B: Oh no! I like it. Oh, look, what a flash of lightning!

A: Yes, and there's a clap of thunder. The first thunder this year.

B: Shall I turn off the TV?

A: What? The thunder is so loud, I can't hear you.

B: I say, shall I turn off the TV? Mom says it's better to turn it off during a thunderstorm.

A: Yes, do. And I'll shut the window. A gust of wind may break the pane.

B: Oh, what a shower!

A: It's good. It will lay the dust and revive the flowers in the garden.

Dialogue 2:

1. Why don't you go out, Bob? I don't like the way you sit at home and read all day long.

2. But there's a hard frost, Mom.

   1. You haven't been out yet, so how do you know?

   2. Kate says it's very cold and windy.

      1. Kate doesn't know. She was out early in the morning, then it was really cold. I've just come in, so I know. It's not so frosty now as it was in the morning, and the wind has dropped. Go for a walk.

      2. Oh, Mom, I've got such a wonderful book and I am so comfortable here.

         1. Look how pale you are. An hour or two in the open air will do you good. Just put aside that book, get into your coat and go out like a good boy.

         2. Oh, all right.

**Exercise 12. Speak about the seasons of the year. What is your favourite season? Why do you like it?