[شرف الكلمة]

Telling Time
In the U.S., time is usually told on the 12, rather than 24-hour clock. Distinctions between morning, afternoon, and evening are made by adding a.m. or p.m. 2 p.m. is therefore two o'clock in the afternoon; 6 a.m. is six o'clock in the morning.
HERE ARE SOME USEFUL EXPRESSIONS RELATED TO TIME:
-- What time is it? - It's 11 p.m.
-- Do you have the time? - Yes, it's 12 noon.
-- What time should I arrive? - Around 3 p.m.
-- How much time will it take? -No more than 20 minutes.
When referring to 12:00 at night, you can say midnight. When referring to 12:00 during the day, you can say noon.
Here are some examples of how to express time in English:
-- If it's 10 you could say either
It's quarter past (after) ten.
OR: It's ten fifteen.
-- If it's 5:30, you could say either
It's half past five.
OR: It's five thirty.
-- If it's 8:45, you could say either
It's quarter till nine.
OR: It's eight forty-five.
For all other times, simply list the hour first, then the number of minutes:
It's 3:25 = It's three twenty-five.
It's 10:35 = It's ten thirty-five
OR: It's twenty-five till eleven.




Active and The Passive Voice

The Passive Voice
In other sections, you have seen verbs used in the active voice. The passive voice is sometimes used in English as well. With the active voice, the agent or subject comes before the verb. With the passive, the subject (either stated or implied) follows the verb and is usually preceded with the word by:
ACTIVE:
--The doctor wrote a preion.
PASSIVE
--The preion was written by the doctor.
NOTE: In the passive, the object of the active verb becomes the subject.
To make the passive, use the appropriate form of the verb to be + past participle. Only transitive verbs are used in the passive:
ACTIVE: Fred helps Jane.
PASSIVE: Jane is helped by Fred.
ACTIVE: He is helping her.
PASSIVE: She is being helped by him.
ACTIVE: He has helped her.
PASSIVE: She has been helped by him.
ACTIVE: He helped her.
PASSIVE: She was helped by him.
ACTIVE: He was helping her.
PASSIVE: She was being helped by him.
ACTIVE: He had helped her.
PASSIVE: She had been helped by him.
ACTIVE: He will help her.
PASSIVE: She will be helped by him.
ACTIVE: He is going to help her.
PASSIVE: She is going to be helped by him.

Usually the by phrase is omitted in a passive sentence. The passive is used mainly when it is not known or not important to know who was responsible for the action:
--The house was built in 1960.
(The by phrase is left out because it is understood that builders
built the house).