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The 12-hour clock is a time convention in which the 24 hours of the day are divided into two periods: a.m. (from Latin ante meridiem, translating to "before midday") and p.m. (from Latin post meridiem, translating to "after midday"). [1] [2] Each period consists of 12 hours numbered: 12 (acting as 0), [3] 1, 2, 3, 4
Whether the 24-hour clock, 12-hour clock, or 6-hour clock is used. Whether the minutes (or fraction of an hour) after the previous hour or until the following hour is used in spoken language. The punctuation used to separate elements in all-numeric dates and times. Which days are considered the weekend.
The 24-hour clock is used in military, public safety, and scientific contexts in the United States. [4] It is best known for its use by the military and is therefore commonly called "military time". In U.S. military use, 24-hour time is traditionally written without a colon (1800 instead of 18:00).
The 24-hour notation is used in timetables and on most digital clocks, but 12-hour notation is still widely used in ordinary life. The 24-hour notation is used more often than in North America – transport timetables use it exclusively, as do most legal documents – but not as commonly as in much of the non-English-speaking world.
The government describes the 24-hour system as "desirable" but does not enforce its use, meaning that the 12-hour clock remains common for oral and informal usage in English-speaking contexts. [27] It is not the recommended style in journalism, for example. [28] This situation is similar to the use of the 24-hour clock in the United Kingdom.
The default date format is day month year. For month day year use {{12-hour time|format=mdy}}, for example 3:14 pm on December 3, 2024; The default is not to show seconds or the day of the week. To display these use {{12-hour time|sec=on}} and/or {{12-hour time|dow=on}} respectively, for example 3:14:55 pm on 3 December 2024
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The time of day is typically expressed in English in terms of hours. Whole hours on a 12-hour clock are expressed using the contracted phrase o'clock, from the older of the clock. [6] (10 am and 10 pm are both read as "ten o'clock".) Hours on a 24-hour clock ("military time") are expressed as "hundred" or "hundred hours".