---
title: Quarter past, quarter to, and how people really say the time — how Mova does on the tests · World
description: Lesson 102 of the world course of Mova's primary school: 5 of 11 tests right, exam 0 of 4, every question with the options, the student's choice, the right answer and why it chose.
---

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# Quarter past, quarter to, and how people really say the time

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**Tests:** 5 of 11 right · **Exam:** 0 of 4 right · **Kind:** ★ · **Understood:** 3 of 15 · **Run:** 2026-10-18, commit `f3c23ea72`

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Lesson 102 of the world course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/102-quarter-past-quarter-to-saying-the-time/).

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Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson's questions in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/102-quarter-past-quarter-to-saying-the-time/).

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### Test 1 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t1}

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Chloe goes, "Quarter to seven? Easy, that's quarter past, so 7:15." What's the right answer?

- **1.** 6:45, because "to" means before seven — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** 7:15, because quarter always means after — score 3
- **3.** 6:15, because quarter to means a quarter of six — **← Mova's choice** · score 4
- **4.** 7:45, because "to" means three quarters — score 4

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 4, tied with another option at 4 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 102, line 9: «In parts of the USA "quarter of" or "quarter till" means quarter to, so "quarter of five" is 4:45.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «mean» (+4); the same thing acted on «quarter» (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-2). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/102-quarter-past-quarter-to-saying-the-time/t1/)

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### Test 2 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t2}

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Lily turned up at 3:30 to her German friend's "halb drei" party. How long had it been going?

- **1.** 30 minutes — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** It hadn't started yet — no support
- **3.** 2 hours — no support
- **4.** 1 hour — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/102-quarter-past-quarter-to-saying-the-time/t2/)

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### Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t3}

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Sean's mum reads "come round this arvo" and asks, "Is that the morning?" What does "arvo" mean?

- **1.** Tomorrow — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** Morning — no support
- **3.** Evening — no support
- **4.** Afternoon — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/102-quarter-past-quarter-to-saying-the-time/t3/)

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### Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t4}

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Kyle comes home at 9:45 and says, "That's the back of nine, innit?" Is he right?

- **1.** No, the back of nine means before nine — **← Mova's choice** · score 5
- **2.** Yes, the back of nine means any time before ten — score 3
- **3.** Yes, it means quarter to ten exactly — no support
- **4.** No, the back of nine is just after nine, so he is well late — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 5, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 102, line 16: «In Scotland "the back of nine" means a little after nine, around 9:05 or 9:10, never nearly ten.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «mean» (+2); the same circumstance (+2); the same doer «back» (+1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/102-quarter-past-quarter-to-saying-the-time/t4/)

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### Test 5 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t5}

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Hannah's London friend turns up at 6 in the evening for "dinner at half twelve". What went wrong?

- **1.** Half twelve means six o'clock in London — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** The friend should have come at half past six — no support
- **3.** Northerners eat dinner at midnight — no support
- **4.** In the north "dinner" can be the midday meal, at 12:30 — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/102-quarter-past-quarter-to-saying-the-time/t5/)

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### Test 6 · ★ · right ✓ {#t6}

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Jake's mate laughs, "It's ten PAST, ya muppet, not ten after." Who is right?

- **1.** Only the mate; "after" is not a real time word — no support
- **2.** Neither; the time is five to ten — no support
- **3.** Only Jake; "past" is old-fashioned — no support
- **4.** Both are right; British say "past", Americans often say "after" — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 7

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 7, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 102, line 10: «Americans often say "after" where British people say "past": ten after five and ten past five are both 5:10.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «say» (+3); the same doer «americans» (+3); the same property (+1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/102-quarter-past-quarter-to-saying-the-time/t6/)

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### Test 7 · ★ · right ✓ {#t7}

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Mateo rolls in at 9:50 for a twenty-to-ten kick-off, saying, "Howay man, I'm early!" Is he?

- **1.** No, kick-off was at 9:40, so he's 10 minutes late — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** No, but only by 1 minute — no support
- **3.** Yes, by exactly 10 minutes — no support
- **4.** Yes, kick-off is at 10:20 — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/102-quarter-past-quarter-to-saying-the-time/t7/)

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### Test 8 · ★ · right ✓ {#t8}

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Dev says "three quarters past seven" and the class laughs. Is he wrong about the time?

- **1.** No, it is 7:45, just said in an unusual way — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** Yes, three quarters past seven is 7:34 — no support
- **3.** Yes, it is 8:45 — no support
- **4.** Yes, it is 7:15 — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/102-quarter-past-quarter-to-saying-the-time/t8/)

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### Test 9 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t9}

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Tyler's Pittsburgh aunt says, "Yinz gotta be there at quarter till three." When must they arrive?

- **1.** 2:15 — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** 3:45 — no support
- **3.** 3:15 — no support
- **4.** 2:45 — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/102-quarter-past-quarter-to-saying-the-time/t9/)

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### Test 10 · ★ · right ✓ {#t10}

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What would happen if you went to every "quarter of" meeting in the USA at quarter past instead?

- **1.** You would always be 30 minutes late — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** You would always be exactly on time — no support
- **3.** You would always be an hour late — no support
- **4.** You would always be 15 minutes early — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/102-quarter-past-quarter-to-saying-the-time/t10/)

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### Test 11 · ★ · right ✓ {#t11}

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Oisin's mam yells, "Stop faffing!" at 8:00, with the bus at quarter past eight. What does she want?

- **1.** Stop wasting time, the bus goes in 15 minutes — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** Stop running, the bus waits 45 minutes — no support
- **3.** Stop eating, the bus came 15 minutes ago — no support
- **4.** Go back to bed, the bus is at quarter to nine — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/102-quarter-past-quarter-to-saying-the-time/t11/)

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### Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e1}

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Determine the number of minutes comprised in one quarter of an hour.

- **1.** Thirty — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** Fifteen — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** Four — no support
- **4.** Twenty-five — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/102-quarter-past-quarter-to-saying-the-time/e1/)

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### Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e2}

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It is given that an appointment is fixed for "quarter to seven". Ascertain the corresponding time in digital notation.

- **1.** 7:15 — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** 7:45 — no support
- **3.** 6:15 — no support
- **4.** 6:45 — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/102-quarter-past-quarter-to-saying-the-time/e2/)

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### Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e3}

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Select the response that is consistent with the established facts concerning the German expression "halb drei".

- **1.** It denotes three o'clock precisely — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** It denotes half past three — no support
- **3.** It denotes half past two — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** It denotes a quarter past three — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/102-quarter-past-quarter-to-saying-the-time/e3/)

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### Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e4}

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Which of the following most accurately characterises the American expression "quarter of five"?

- **1.** One quarter of five minutes — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** Five minutes after a quarter past the hour — no support
- **3.** Fifteen minutes before five o'clock — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** Fifteen minutes after five o'clock — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/102-quarter-past-quarter-to-saying-the-time/e4/)

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- ← previous: [101. Reading the clock: hours, minutes and the two ha…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/world/101-reading-the-clock-hours-minutes-hands/)
- next →: [103. Morning, afternoon and the 24-hour clock](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/world/103-morning-afternoon-24-hour-clock/)
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