Time is one of the trickiest things to write out in words, because English uses two completely different systems: the old-fashioned "past/to" style and the plain digital style. Mix them up and your sentence sounds wrong. Here is how to get it right every time.

The traditional style: minutes past and to the hour

For times up to 30 minutes past the hour, say the minutes first, then "past", then the hour:

3:05 — five past three

3:15 — a quarter past three

3:30 — half past three

After the half hour, the convention flips: count the minutes remaining and use "to" with the NEXT hour:

3:40 — twenty to four

3:45 — a quarter to four

3:55 — five to four

On the hour itself, use "o'clock": "three o'clock", "nine o'clock".…