Telling Time Practice
Practise reading an analog clock — to the hour, half past, quarter past and the nearest five minutes. Just tap the time you see.
Practice now
How to read a clock
Reading an analog clock means tracking two hands at once. The short hand gives the hour; the long hand gives the minutes. The trick is that the minute hand counts in fives as it passes each number.
- Read the short hand first — it points at (or just past) the hour.
- Read the long hand for minutes — each number it passes is five more minutes.
- Remember the landmarks: straight up is :00, right is :15, down is :30, left is :45.
Worked examples
Tips & common mistakes
The most common confusion is which hand is which — short for hour, long for minutes. Counting the minute hand in fives (5, 10, 15…) is faster than counting every little mark. Tap the time shown on the clock.
- Swapping the hands — the short one is always the hour.
- Reading the hour as the number the short hand is closest to, when it’s really just before the next hour (at 7:45 the short hand is near 8).
- Counting minutes by ones instead of fives.
Frequently asked questions
What age is telling time for?
Reading a clock to the half and quarter hour is a grade 1–2 skill; reading to five minutes comes in grades 2–3.
Which hand is the hour hand?
The short, fatter hand. The long, thin hand shows the minutes.
How do I read the minutes?
Count the minute hand around in fives — each big number it passes is another five minutes, starting from the 12.
What do quarter past and quarter to mean?
Quarter past is 15 minutes after the hour (minute hand on the 3); quarter to is 15 minutes before the next hour (minute hand on the 9).
Why does the hour hand move between numbers?
Because it creeps forward as the minutes pass — at half past seven it sits halfway between 7 and 8.