"nine ten" vs "ten past nine" | it's nine to ten
Bothformsareusedallthetimebyanyone.Themostcommonis"hourminute"(ninefortyseven,ninesixteen).Thisisexactlylikereadingaloudthiswrittenform:9:47,9:16.Fornumbersundertenyoupronouncethezero.9:05isreadnineohfive.And9:00isnineoclock.The"itisNNafterHH"formisonlyslightlylesscommon.Itisoftenusedforsmallnumbersofminutes,soyouhear"itis40pastnine"lessoften.Butitisused,andiscorrect.Fortimesinthe2dhalfofthehour,wemoreoftensayhowmanyminutesitisbeforethenexthour.9:50istenminutestotenortenminutesbeforeten.Andt...
Both forms are used all the time by anyone.The most common is "hour minute" (nine forty seven, nine sixteen). This is exactly like reading aloud this written form: 9:47, 9:16.
For numbers under ten you pronounce the zero. 9:05 is read nine oh five. And 9:00 is nine oclock.
The "it is NN after HH" form is only slightly less common. It is often used for small numbers of minutes, so you hear "it is 40 past nine" less often. But it is used, and is correct.
For times in the 2d half of the hour, we more often say how many minutes it is before the next hour. 9:50 is ten minutes to ten or ten minutes before ten.
And the quarters are often named. We say quarter past nine (9:15) and half past nine (9:30) and quarter to ten (9:45) / quarter of ten.