CMR/FO Year 1 English

CASE 1 The Basics

Introduction:

A recap of what you should know at A1 level.

Your job:

Work with time, date, directions and other aspects of English at this level.

Included are:

Counting, informal/formal date writing, analogue time and digital time and AM/PM.

Exam/Test:

Your knowledge will be tested with a written test.

End result:

Youll have refreshed your skills and are now prepared to venture out into the world of
Tourism.

Telling the Time

Asking the time
Here are some phrases you can use when you want to know the time:

What's the time?

What time is it?
Have you got the right time?
What time do you make it?

Telling the time

To tell someone what the time is, we can say "The time is..." or, more usually, "It's...". Here is
a typical dialogue:
Question: What's the time, please?
Answer: It's three o'clock.
The chart below shows how to tell someone what time it is.
It's...
3.00 three o'clock
3.03 three minutes past three
3.05 five minutes past three
3.09 nine minutes past three
3.10 ten minutes past three
3.15 a quarter past three
3.20 twenty minutes past three
3.21 twenty-one minutes past three
3.25 twenty-five minutes past three
3.30 half past three
3.35 twenty-five minutes to four
3.40 twenty minutes to four
3.45 a quarter to four
3.50 ten minutes to four
3.55 five minutes to four
3.57 three minutes to four
4.00 four o'clock

Day and Night (AM/PM)

There are 24 hours in a day. The day is divided into "day(time)" and "night(-time)". Daytime
is from sunrise to sunset. Night-time is from sunset to sunrise.
Every day starts precisely at midnight. AM (Ante-Meridiem = before noon) starts just after
midnight. PM (Post-Meridiem=after noon) starts just after midday.
This diagram shows the cycle of a 24-hour day and the words we use to describe its parts. The
day starts at midnight (at the bottom of the diagram).

The word day can have two meanings:

1. the 24 hours between one midnight and the next
2. the time between sunrise and sunset (as distinct from night)

Days of the Week

Notice that "weekdays" and "days of the week" are not the same. "Days of the week" are all 7
days from Monday to Sunday. "Weekdays" are only the 5 days from Monday to Friday. The
"weekend" is Saturday and Sunday.

weekdays

Day

Abbreviation

Monday

Mon.

Mo.

Tuesday

Tue.

Tu.

Wednesday

Wed.

We.

Thursday

Thu.

Th.

Friday

Fri.

Fr.

Saturday

Sat.

Sa.

Sunday

Sun.

Su.

weekend

Months of the Year

The table below shows the months of the year used in English-speaking countries and many
other parts of the world. The list shows the order of the months, starting from January (month
1).
The abbreviations or short forms shown are the most common.
The days column shows the number of days in the month. All months have 30 or 31 days,
except for February which has 28 days (29 in a leap year).
Every fourth year, the month of February has 29 days instead of 28. This year is called a "leap
year" and the 29th of February is a "leap day". A leap year has 366 days instead of the normal
365. Any year that can be divided cleanly by 4 is a leap year. 2012, 2016 and 2020 are all leap
years.
Month

Short Form

Days

January

Jan.

31

February

Feb.

28/29

March

Mar.

31

April

Apr.

30

May

May

31

June

Jun.

30

July

Jul.

31

August

Aug.

31

September

Sep.

30

10

October

Oct.

31

11

November

Nov.

30

12

December

Dec.

31

Season
Winter

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Winter

The seasons are approximate and depend on latitude. Some parts of the world have only three
seasons. The seasons shown here are for the North Temperate Zone (for example Europe). In
the southern hemisphere, the seasons are reversed.

Writing the Date

There are several different ways to write the date in English. They vary from formal to
informal, and there are differences between British and American English. The following
table shows some typical formats.
Informal
14th of March, 1999

Formal
March 14, 1999
14 March, 1999

March the 14th, 1999

Months
Number Name

Abbreviations

1 January

Jan

2 February

Feb

3 March

Mar

4 April

Apr

5 May

May

6 June

Jun

7 July

Jul

8 August

Aug

9 September Sep

10 October

Oct

11 November Nov

12 December Dec

In English, months are correctly written with an initial capital: January, February...

Days of the Month

1st

first

2nd second
3rd

third

4th

fourth

5th

fifth

6th

sixth

7th

seventh

8th

eighth
6

9th

ninth

10th tenth
11th eleventh
12th twelfth
13th thirteenth
14th fourteenth
15th fifteenth
16th sixteenth
17th seventeenth
18th eighteenth
19th nineteenth
20th twentieth
21st twenty-first
22nd twenty-second
23rd twenty-third
24th twenty-fourth
25th twenty-fifth
26th twenty-sixth
27th twenty-seventh
28th twenty-eighth
29th twenty-ninth
30th thirtieth
31st thirty-first
40th fortieth
50th fiftieth
60th sixtieth
70th seventieth
80th eightieth
90th ninetieth

Counting Chart: Numbers 1 to 100

1
one

2
two

3
three

4
four

5
five

6
six

11
12
13
14
15
16
eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen sixteen
21
22
twenty- twentyone
two
31
32
thirty- thirtyone
two
41
42
forty- fortyone
two
51
52
fifty- fiftyone
two
61
62
sixty- sixtyone
two
71
72
seventy- seventy
one
-two
81
82
eighty- eightyone
two
91
92
ninety- ninetyone
two

23
twentythree
33
thirtythree
43
fortythree
53
fiftythree
63
sixtythree
73
seventy
-three
83
eightythree
93
ninetythree

24
twentyfour
34
thirtyfour
44
fortyfour
54
fiftyfour
64
sixtyfour
74
seventy
-four
84
eightyfour
94
ninetyfour

25
twentyfive
35
thirtyfive
45
fortyfive
55
fiftyfive
65
sixtyfive
75
seventy
-five
85
eightyfive
95
ninetyfive

26
twentysix
36
thirtysix
46
fortysix
56
fifty-six
66
sixtysix
76
seventy
-six
86
eightysix
96
ninetysix

7
seven
17
seventee
n
27
twentyseven
37
thirtyseven
47
fortyseven
57
fiftyseven
67
sixtyseven
77
seventyseven
87
eightyseven
97
ninetyseven

8
eight
18
eightee
n
28
twentyeight
38
thirtyeight
48
fortyeight
58
fiftyeight
68
sixtyeight
78
seventy
-eight
88
eightyeight
98
ninetyeight

9
nine
19
ninetee
n
29
twentynine
39
thirtynine
49
fortynine
59
fiftynine
69
sixtynine
79
seventy
-nine
89
eightynine
99
ninetynine

10
ten
20
twenty
30
thirty
40
forty
50
fifty
60
sixty
70
seventy
80
eighty
90
ninety
100
one
hundred

Asking and giving directions

.

Language for asking directions

Can you tell me

the way to

Do you know

how to get to

the (nearest) post office

bus stop
toilet
Covent Garden
Trafalgar Square
Bush House

Language for giving directions

Left
go left
turn left
it's on the left
take a left
take the second (turning) on the left
Right
go right
turn right
it's on the right
take a right
take the second (turning) on the right
Ahead
go ahead
go straight ahead
go straight on

1) It's

9) It's

2) It's

10) It's

3) It's

4) It's

5) It's

6) It's

7) It's

8) It's

USE English time (in a sentence)

10

Write down the Dutch digital time and whether it is morning,

afternoon, evening, or night!

AM/PM

Dutch digital time

Moment of the day

10.48 PM
8.10 AM
3.22 PM
6.30 PM
2.24 AM
10.01 AM
11.49 PM
5.45 PM
7.34 AM
10.01 AM

11

Write the date in two different ways

(Informal) Example:
14/03/1999 14th of March, 1999
March the 14th, 1999
15/12/1988....

28/06/2012

10/08/2000

01/01/2001

08/11/2004

(formal) Example:
14/03/1999 March 14, 1999
14 March, 1999
29/02/2012

04/07/1582

13/03/1200

23/04/899

20/09/2050

12