Introduction

Last week you learned how to ask and say what the time is. This week you’re going to learn and practise how to ask and say the time using the 24-hour clock, which is commonly used for arrival and departure times, and for opening and closing times of shops and services. You’ll also learn how to talk about different times of the day, such as morning, afternoon and evening.
Traditionally Italians divide the day into three parts depending on when they are having their meals, which varies in different parts of the country: for example, in the North the morning usually stretches until 12:30–1 p.m. and the afternoon starts after that. In the South the morning stretches until 1:30–2:30 p.m. and the afternoon starts after that. It’s very important to keep this in mind when learning about how to talk about parts of the day: for example, ‘let’s meet in the early afternoon’ for some Italians means meeting no earlier than 2:30–3 p.m.
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