Telling Time (Analogue Clock): 5 minute Intervals to the Hour

An analogue clock has numbers 1 to 12.

The larger analogue clock hand is called the minute hand. It tells us how many minutes have passed.

When the minute hand completes one full turn, one whole hour has passed.

The shorter analogue clock hand is the hour hand. It tells us how many hours have passed.

When the clock’s minute hand is pointing to a number in the first half of the analogue clock face, it is showing minutes past the hour.

When the minute hand is pointing to a number in the second half of the analogue clock face, it is showing minutes to the next hour.

Each increment on the clock face is one minute.

Looking at the left-hand-side of the clock, moving anti-clockwise from 12, each number is a multiple of 5 minutes to the next hour.

So, from 12 we can count in fives to find out how many minutes there are until the next hour is reached.

We can count the minutes up to, but not including, 30. We don’t say 30 minutes to. Instead, we say half past.

In the example above, the minute hand is pointing to 11. This means that it is 5 minutes to the next hour.

The hour hand is moving towards 2.

The time is five minutes to 2.

The minute hand is pointing to 10. This means that it is 10 minutes to the next hour.

The hour hand is moving towards 8.

The time is ten minutes to 8.

The minute hand of our clock is pointing to 7.

Counting anti-clockwise in fives, we have 5, 10, 15, 20, 25.

This means that it is 25 minutes to the next hour.

The hour hand is moving towards 11.

The time is twenty-five minutes to 11.