The small marks are minutes
Between two numbers on a clock face there are 4 small marks. They cut the space between the numbers into 5 equal steps, and each step is one minute. All the way round there are 60 steps, one for each minute in an hour.
From one number to the next is 5 minutes. So count in fives for the numbers the long hand has passed, then count single minutes for the small marks after that.
Fives to the number, then ones
Here the long hand is just past the 4. Count in fives up to the 4: 5, 10, 15, 20. Then count the small marks past the 4, one minute each: 21, 22. The long hand shows 22 minutes.
The short hand is between the 3 and the 4, so the hour is 3, and the time is 3:22.
Four fives reach the 4, which is 20 minutes, and 2 small marks more make 22: the time is 3:22.
3:00 = 3 o'clock: the long hand is on 12 and the short hand points straight at 3
Set the clock to 3:22
Each small mark the long hand passes is one minute. Four fives reach the 4, and 2 marks more make 3:22.
Just past the hour
When the long hand has not reached the 1 yet, there are no fives to count. Count the small marks past the 12: this long hand is 3 marks past it, so it shows 3 minutes. The short hand is on the 10, so the time is 10:03.
The minutes are always written with two digits, so 3 minutes is written 03. Without the zero, 10:3 could be read as 10:30, which is half past ten.
The long hand is 3 small marks past the 12: the time is 10:03.
Near the end of the hour
Late in the hour, count the same way. Here the long hand is 3 marks past the 11. Eleven fives are 55, and 3 more make 58.
The short hand is very close to the 4, but it has not reached it, so the hour is still 3. The time is 3:58, two minutes before four o’clock.
Eleven fives reach the 11, which is 55 minutes, and 3 small marks more make 58: the time is 3:58.
Count every mark
The usual mistake is to stop at the number. A long hand 2 marks past the 4 shows 22 minutes, not 20, because the small marks past the number count too.
The other mistake is to read the hour the short hand is coming up to. At 3:58 the short hand is almost on the 4, but the hour is 3 until the long hand reaches the 12.
Worked example: A Clock Read to the Minute, and the Minutes to the Next Hour
Question Lina looks at the clock before school. The hour hand is between 7 and 8. The minute hand points 2 small marks past the 4. (a) What time does the clock show? (b) How many minutes is it until 8 o'clock?
1.The hour hand is between 7 and 8. It has passed 7 and has not reached 8, so the hour is 7.
The hour hand has passed 7 and has not reached 8, so the hour is 7. 2.For the minute hand, each number on the clock is 5 minutes. Count in fives to the 4: 4 × 5 = 20 minutes.
Each number is 5 minutes for the minute hand: 4 × 5 = 20 minutes to the 4. 3.Add the 2 small marks: 20 + 2 = 22 minutes. (a) The clock shows 7.22 a.m.
(a) 20 + 2 = 22 minutes, so the clock shows 7.22 a.m. 4.(b) An hour has 60 minutes. From 22 minutes to 60 minutes is 60 − 22 = 38 minutes. Check: 22 + 38 = 60.
(b) 60 − 22 = 38 minutes until 8 o'clock.
Answer: (a) 7.22 a.m.; (b) 38 minutes
Common mistakes
- Reading the hour as 8 because the next number the hour hand will reach is 8. The hour hand has not reached 8 yet, so the hour is still 7.
- Reading the minutes as 4 or as 6 because the minute hand is near the 4. For the minute hand the number 4 means 4 fives, which is 20 minutes, and the 2 small marks make it 22.
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