Reading the clock to the minute
You already know the clock for whole hours and half hours. Now we read any time off the clock face.
Step 1 — read the hour
Look at the short hand. It points roughly to a number — that's the current hour (or the hour just passed).
Careful: the short hand moves slowly all hour long. If it's between 3 and 4, the hour is 3, not 4.
Step 2 — read the minutes (5-minute marks)
The long hand points to a position around the clock. The 12 numbers around the dial mark 5-minute steps:
| Number | Minutes |
| 12 | 0 |
| 1 | 5 |
| 2 | 10 |
| 3 | 15 |
| 4 | 20 |
| 5 | 25 |
| 6 | 30 |
| 7 | 35 |
| 8 | 40 |
| 9 | 45 |
| 10 | 50 |
| 11 | 55 |
Trick: multiply the number the long hand points to by 5.
Step 3 — any minute
Between two big numbers there are 4 small ticks. Each tick is 1 minute.
If the long hand is 2 ticks past the 3, the minutes are 15 + 2 = 17.
Putting it together
A clock with the short hand between 3 and 4 and the long hand on the 5 reads:
3 hours, 25 minutes → 3:25.
Read it as "twenty-five past three", or just "three twenty-five".
Common pitfalls
- Hour hand near 12 looks tempting. If the long hand is on 11 (= 55 min) and the short hand is just before the 5, the time is 4:55, not 5:55.
- Mixing up the hands. The minute hand is longer.