I noticed that I and Alexa say “six ‘oh’ five a m”, but is that the correct way of saying the time? Specifically the “oh” part?
Kind of like when speaking out a phone number, how we might say “my number is one two three, six ‘oh’ six…” but really, that’s not an “oh” like the letter O even though it looks like an O, but everyone knows the person is saying “six zero six”, which is the proper way of saying that.
Edit: thanks for all the answers everyone! This was just pure curiosity for me but I really enjoyed reading everyone’s responses and learning some new things!
i would say “Sechs uhr fünf” which translates to “six o’clock five”. but if i was to speak english i would definetely say “six o’ five” the “o’” might even stand for “o’clock”
Which is turn stands for “of the clock”
In some situations, we use “o” for the number 0. Been hunting around for a reason but I think it’s just an abbreviation of zero.
That “oh” does not stand for “o’clock”, it stands for zero. If you said “six-o-fifteen” (or any time without the leading zero for minutes) you’d be saying it wrong. We also don’t say the “oh” for zero the same way as the “o” in “o’clock” (the former rhymes with “owe” and the latter is a schwa).
In English we can often say “oh” for zero, when it is part of a string of numbers. So when giving telephone numbers or addresses, for example, in addition to the time.
Um I certainly as fuck do, as does everyone else in my country. What the fuck other way are you going to pronounce ‘O’?
Like a schwa, as I said.
Which country is it where that “o” is never reduced?
Australia.
No, it’s definitely reduced in Australian English.
I think the problem might be that you don’t understand what a schwa is. Here is an Australian saying “o’clock” and it’s clearly a schwa.
Unless you are hyperarticulating, you are never going to pronounce the first “o” in “6 o’clock” with a full “oh” sound.
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Did you record that? In that example, by doing a rapid version of “6:09”, you’ve pronounced both of the phrases with a schwa, and therefore neither of them with a full “oh” sound. So, exactly the opposite of what you claimed.
In any case, with “6:09” you could (and would certainly commonly hear others in your country) very naturally fully pronounce the “oh”, whereas with “o’clock” it would sound unnatural, like you are over-pronouncing it.
Look in any dictionary and see that the first syllable of “o’clock” is just /ə/, whereas the word “oh” is /oʊ/ or /əʊ/, or for an Australian dictionary maybe even /əʉ/ or /æʉ/. Whatever it is, it will not be the same as “o’clock”.
I feel like I’ve really patiently tried to explain this to you, even as you have been rude and insulting at every turn. At this point, if you actually care to understand, I suggest you google “vowel reduction” and sort it out for yourself.
German class taught me fünf nach sechs.
Or if you want a real nighrmare
6:35
fünf nach halb vor 7
5 past half an hour to 7… It’s in my textbook people look at me funny if I use it.
British English I still haven’t figured out if half 7 is 6:30 or 7:30. Halb 7 in German is 6:30
Living in Germany coming from north America doing a lot of work with England I miss a lot of meetings that are at 17:30… Either I screw up the 12 hr change and can’t remember if the said 7 or 17 and then where the half hour falls before or after.