1 · O'clock
The short hand is the hour hand. The long hand is the minute hand.
When the long hand points straight up at 12, it is o'clock. The short hand tells which hour: here it points at 3, so it is 3 o'clock, written 3:00.
2 · Half past
When the long hand points down at 6, half an hour has gone by: half past. That is 30 minutes.
The short hand is halfway between 3 and 4, so it is half past 3, written 3:30.
3 · Quarter past and quarter to
Long hand on 3: a quarter of the way around. Quarter past 7 is 7:15.
Long hand on 9: three quarters around, one quarter left to go. Quarter to 8 is 7:45. The short hand is almost at 8.
4 · Counting by fives
Each number on the clock is 5 minutes for the long hand. Count by fives from the 12: 5, 10, 15, 20...
Long hand on 4: 5, 10, 15, 20. Short hand past 7. The time is 7:20.
5 · Morning and afternoon
The clock goes around twice each day. Morning times are a.m. Afternoon and evening times are p.m.
You eat breakfast at 7:30 a.m. and go to bed at 7:30 p.m. Same numbers, different halves of the day.
6 · What time will it be?
It is 4:00 now. In 2 hours, the short hand moves 2 numbers: 6:00.
It is 3:00 now. In half an hour, the long hand moves to the 6: 3:30.
7 · How long did it take?
A movie starts at 1:00 and ends at 3:00. Count the hours from 1 to 3: 1 → 2 → 3 is 2 hours.
Lunch starts at 12:00 and ends at 12:30. That is half an hour, 30 minutes.
8 · Days, weeks, months
There are 7 days in a week: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Then it starts again.
There are 12 months in a year, and 60 minutes in an hour. If today is Tuesday, in 2 days it will be Thursday.
9 · Measuring with a ruler
Put the 0 of the ruler at one end of the thing. Read the number at the other end. This pencil is 5 inches long.
A ruler can also show centimeters (cm), which are smaller than inches. This crayon is 9 cm.
10 · Which is longer, and by how much?
A pencil is 14 cm and a crayon is 9 cm. The pencil is longer. How much longer? Subtract: 14 − 9 = 5 cm.
11 · End to end
Put a 7 cm ribbon and a 6 cm ribbon end to end. Together they are 7 + 6 = 13 cm. Lengths add up.
12 · Picking a unit
Small things: centimeters or inches (a crayon, a book). Big things: meters or feet (a room, a tree). Very far: kilometers or miles.
Measure a paper clip in cm, a door in feet, a road in miles. You are ready for the test! 🎉
Ready to check what stuck?
Take the free 24-question test. It starts easy and builds to harder, ISEE-style reasoning. It's auto-scored, and you can review every answer afterward.