GIVE ANSWERS - English

Some, but certainly not a majority and even then mostly older, i.e., those born before the 1980s, do express ”7:30” as ”half past seven” and even ”half past the hour” - the assumption being that all parties involved in the conversation are aware of the hour, e.g., seventh, in which they find themselves.

So, if you and I are chatting at around 7am and I say ”let’s take a break and meet at half past the hour”, that means you and I will reconvene at 7:30.

Similarly, if you and I are chatting at (for example) 7am and I suggest we meet later in the day, say at 12:30, I could say ”Let’s meet at half past twelve (12).”

Clear?

Telling the time is sometimes confusing and can differ quite a lot between British and American English.

For times such as 7:22, Americans would say twenty-two after seven. In British English, it’s twenty-two past seven.

However, for 7:15 or 7:30, they tend to use just like the British ”past” - it’s ”a quarter past seven” or it’s ”half past seven”. British English would drop the ”a” and say ”it’s quarter past seven”. For 7:30, I’ve even heard Americans saying ”half seven”.

For a time like 7:50, British English would use ”ten to eight”. American English is all over the place. I’ve heard ”to” just like British English and also ”ten before eight” and ”10 till eight”. I think it’s quite regional for Americans which one is preferred.

For 7:45, British English is ”quarter to eight”. American English again has variants besides this such as ”a quarter to eight”, ”a quarter before eight”, ”a quarter till eight” and even ”a quarter of eight”.

A Rare southern way is to say Half before / till 8:00. The military would say 19:30 (12 hours = 7 to get the time)