scratch.fangs

[rotund hearth]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

Pro tip: you can rename the thread title with `.tr <thread name>`

Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[mighty musk]

Twenty minutes to eight

[upper ore]

This is how we would say "twenty minutes before eight o'clock" (aka 7:40)

It's a completely normal English sentence

[olive eagle]

the english translation I never heard before

twenty to eight is probably uk english

[mighty musk]

In English we will say like "twenty till" to indicate twenty minutes before the hour so it looks like Duolingo is using fast English slang here

[upper ore]

It's universal afaik, I'm not british

[olive eagle]

I mean I would say 7:40

[upper ore]

You can say both yes

[mighty musk]

It's a derivative of "a quarter till"

[olive eagle]

Well thank you that was so confusing at first 😅

[upper ore]

"twenty to eight" would be more common when you're emphasizing that it's almost eight

[olive eagle]

I understand the french but the english was so confusing

[upper ore]

So it's more common for current events (someone asks you the time and you say "oh it's twenty to eight" or "oh it's twenty to", depending on how obvious the hour is)

[rain acorn]

It’s totally grammatical but it might be phasing out because of digital clocks. Basically past X minutes means X minutes after the hour, X minutes to hour means X minutes before hour

Twenty minutes past eight = Twenty minutes after eight (08.20)
Twenty minutes to eight = Twenty minutes before eight (07.40)

[warped jewel]

i feel like constructions like “twenty to eight” or “twenty till” are falling out of use in american english