Content

• Steps
• Advice

Have you ever been confused when you see a clock that shows 14: 24? This is because the watch shows a 24-hour time format. This time convention is commonly used in Europe and parts of the world except North America. This article will show you how to convert time from 24 hour format to 12 hour format.

Steps

Method 1 of 1: Read the time conversion table

1. 

   Learn how to manually convert the first 12 hours in a 24-hour to 12-hour format. In the 24-hour format, 00:00 is equal to 12:00 nights, and subsequent hours between 00:00 and 12:00 are equal to the hours between 12:00 p.m. and 12:00 noon in the 12-hour format. That means you can convert like this:
   • 00:00 = 12:00 nights
   • 01:00 = 1:00 am
   • 2:00 a.m. = 2:00 a.m.
   • 03:00 = 3:00 am
   • 4:00 am = 4:00 am
   • 05:00 = 5:00 am
   • 06:00 = 6:00 am
   • 07:00 = 7:00 am
   • 08:00 = 8:00 am
   • 09:00 = 9:00 am
   • 10:00 = 10:00 am
   • 11:00 = 11:00 am

2. 

   
   
   Convert next 12 hour from 24 hour format to 12 hour format. If the clock shows 12:00 or larger numbers, you will need to convert the time to afternoon time in a 12-hour format. When the number of impressions hours is greater than 12, to make the conversions simply subtract the impression time from 12. You would do the following:
   • 13:00 - 12:00 = 1:00 pm
   • 14:00 - 12:00 = 2:00 pm
   • 15:00 - 12:00 = 3:00 pm
   • 16:00 - 12:00 = 4:00 pm
   • 17:00 - 12:00 = 5:00 pm
   • 18:00 - 12:00 = 6:00 pm
   • 19:00 - 12:00 = 7:00 pm
   • 20:00 - 12:00 = 8:00 pm
   • 21:00 - 12:00 = 9:00 pm
   • 22:00 - 12:00 = 10:00 nights
   • 23:00 - 12:00 = 11:00 nights

3. 

   
   
   Convert backwards from 12-hour format to 24-hour format. Once you know how to convert time from 24-hour to 12-hour format, you can do the reverse too. You do the following:
   • With the time between 00:00 and 12:00 (12:00 night - 12:00 noon), you just need to remember it's morning time and keep the same number of hours, no conversion required. For example, 1: 00 am (12 o'clock convention) = 01:00 (24h convention), 2:00 am = 02:00, 11:00 am = 11: 00, etc.
   • For the hours between noon and midnight (12:00 noon - 12:00 pm), add the number of hours plus 12. For example, 1:00 pm = 01:00 + 12:00, or 13:00, 2:00 pm = 02:00 + 12:00, or 14:00, 11:00 pm = 11:00 + 12:00, or 23:00, etc.
   • If the time is 12:00 noon, just write it as 12:00. If it's 12:12 pm, just write 12:12
   • Clock will never show 24:00. 24:00 is 00:00, or midnight.
   • Convert minutes and hours. For example, to convert 22:34 to 24-hour format to 12 o'clock, you would use 22: 34-12: 00, or 10:34 pm.
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Advice

• Depending on how the clock is displayed, single-digit hours may have a leading zero.
• When the watch runs until 23:00, it will start again from 00:00.
• In English, the colon between hours and minutes is not "read" (like AM (am) / PM (pm)). "16:35" is read as "thirty-five sixteen" (sixteen thirty-five minutes) or "thirty-five minutes past sixteen" (sixteen hours past thirty-five minutes).
• Also in English, depending on the way of speaking, the leading zero can be "read" (is "zero" or "oh"). However, with the "correct time" or midnight (00:00), both zeros are generally not read. Example: 8:00 am = 08:00 = "eight" = "eight hundred" = "zero-eight hundred" = "oh-eight hundred" = "a hundred minutes past eight".
• If you omit the middle colon when writing a time, you need to add "hours" after the time to avoid confusion between 24-hour time formats and team time (eg, "1600 hours").
• Another quick and simple way to convert is that for hours greater than 12, you subtract 2 from the second and first 1 (Example: 17:00 - 2 = 5:00 pm; 22 : 00-2 = 10:00 pm). If subtracting 2 from the second digit for a negative result, you need to "compensate" for the digit by borrowing a value from the first digit, then subtracting from the first number by the first number and 1. (Luckily this only happens in two cases, 20:00 or 8:00 pm and 21:00 or 9:00 pm).
• You might think midnight is 24:00 — even though this number doesn't exist — or 00:00 to understand the "weird" transition from 23:59 to 00:00 (just like the continued "weird" from 12:59 am / pm to 1:00 pm / am).
• Practice more will get used to! Or if you are using a clock / electronic device, you can set it to convert from a 12-hour time format to a 24-hour time format.
• Note, some countries like the US and Canada do not use the 24-hour convention in everyday life, so this time format is called "military time". In other countries this is known as a 24-hour time. In military time, there is no colon between hours and minutes and time is always followed by the word "hour", in the 24-hour time format otherwise, the colon is used and after the time. do not write "hour".