Questions: Telling Time: The Hour

Question 1

An analog clock shows the short hand pointing directly at 7 and the long hand pointing straight up at 12. What time does the clock show?

• A. 12:07
• B. 7:00
• C. 12:00
• D. 7:12

Answer: (B)

At exactly 7 o'clock, the short (hour) hand points to 7 and the long (minute) hand points straight up to 12. The hour is read from the short hand — it points to 7, so the time is 7:00. Option A is a common error from confusing which hand to read; option C would require the short hand to point at 12.

Question 2

A student looks at a clock. The long hand points at 3 and the short hand is between 4 and 5. The student announces 'It's 3 o'clock!' What mistake did the student make?

• A. She read the short hand correctly but forgot to say 'o'clock'
• B. She read the long (minute) hand instead of the short (hour) hand to get the hour
• C. She should have looked at the 12 on the clock first
• D. The clock must be showing an unusual time that can't be read this way

Answer: (B)

The hour is read from the short hand, not the long one. The long (minute) hand pointing at 3 means 15 minutes past the hour, not that the hour is 3. With the short hand between 4 and 5, the time is approximately 4:15 — definitely not o'clock. This is the most common error beginners make: confusing which hand tells the hour. A helpful memory trick: 'hour' is the shorter word, and the hour hand is the shorter hand.

Question 3

At exactly 6 o'clock, the long (minute) hand points at 6 and the short (hour) hand points at 12.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

At exactly 6 o'clock, it is the *short* (hour) hand that points at 6, and the *long* (minute) hand that points straight up at 12. This question reverses the hands — a very common confusion. Remember: the hour is always shown by the short hand, and at exactly o'clock, the long hand always points to 12.

Question 4

The hour hand is the shorter of the two hands on an analog clock.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: True

The hour hand is always the shorter hand. A useful memory aid: 'hour' is a shorter word than 'minute,' and the hour hand is shorter than the minute hand. At exactly o'clock, the short (hour) hand points to a number and the long (minute) hand points straight up to 12. Keeping this pairing clear — short hand = hour — is the most important skill in reading an analog clock.

Question 5

How can you tell that a clock is showing exactly o'clock? What should both hands be doing?

Model answer: At exactly o'clock, two things must be true at the same time: the short (hour) hand must be pointing directly at a number, and the long (minute) hand must be pointing straight up at 12. The hour is whichever number the short hand is pointing to. If the long hand is anywhere other than pointing straight up at 12, the time is not exactly on the hour.

Both hands together confirm an o'clock time. It's not enough to check just one hand — the long hand pointing to 12 confirms that no minutes have passed yet. When learning, practice checking both: 'Short hand points to ___, long hand points up to 12, so the time is ___o'clock.' Connecting these clock positions to real daily events (lunchtime, bedtime) builds genuine understanding.