NCERT Revision Notes for Class 3 Maths Chapter 13: Time Goes On – Free PDF Download

Chapter 13 of Class 3 Maths, Time Goes On, builds on the earlier time concepts from Class 1 and 2, introducing reading a clock to the nearest five minutes, understanding a.m. and p.m., and working with calendars in more detail.

Last Updated: September 23, 2026

Key Concepts

Reading time to five minutes: reading a clock where the minute hand can point to any of the 5-minute marks, not just 12 (o’clock).

Hour and minute hands: the shorter hand shows the hour, and the longer hand shows the minutes on an analog clock.

a.m. and p.m.: a.m. refers to the time from midnight to just before noon, while p.m. refers to the time from noon to just before midnight.

Calendars: understanding months, weeks, and dates, and finding specific days or dates using a calendar.

Duration: finding how much time has passed between two given times, such as the length of a class or a journey.

Worked Examples

Example 1

A clock shows the hour hand just past 4 and the minute hand on the 6. What time is it? 4:30, since the minute hand on 6 means 30 minutes have passed.

Example 2

Is 9:00 in the morning written as a.m. or p.m.? a.m., since it is before noon.

Example 3

A class starts at 10:00 and ends at 10:45. How long does the class last? 45 minutes.

Quick Recap

• The minute hand can point to any 5-minute mark, allowing us to read time more precisely than just “o’clock”.
• The short hand on a clock shows the hour, and the long hand shows the minutes.
• a.m. is used for times before noon, and p.m. is used for times from noon onward.
• A calendar organises days into weeks and months, helping track specific dates.
• Duration is the amount of time that passes between a start time and an end time.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Mixing up the hour and minute hands on an analog clock.
• Misreading the minute hand position, especially between the 5-minute marks.
• Confusing a.m. and p.m. for common daily activities, like school time or dinner time.
• Miscounting days or weeks while working with a calendar.
• Making errors while calculating duration, especially when it crosses an hour, like from 9:45 to 10:15.

Home Practice Tips

• Practise reading a real or toy clock at different times throughout the day, not just at the hour.
• Discuss which daily activities happen in a.m. and which happen in p.m.
• Use a calendar to find specific dates, days of the week, and count days until an upcoming event.
• Practise simple duration questions, like how long a favourite TV show or activity lasts.
• Set a specific start and end time for an activity and ask the child to calculate how long it took.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How can I help my child read time to the nearest five minutes?
Practise with a real or toy clock, pointing out that each number on the clock face represents 5 minutes when read by the minute hand, and count around the clock together.

Q2. What is the difference between a.m. and p.m.?
a.m. covers the time from midnight to just before noon, while p.m. covers the time from noon to just before midnight; connecting this to daily routines, like waking up (a.m.) and dinner (p.m.), helps make it clear.

Q3. How is duration calculated between two times?
Find the difference between the start time and the end time, counting forward in minutes or hours as needed, especially when the duration crosses an hour mark.

Q4. How can a calendar be used to solve maths problems in this chapter?
A calendar helps answer questions about which day a date falls on, how many days are left until an event, or the order of months and dates.

Q5. How does this chapter build on earlier time chapters?
It extends the simple “o’clock” reading and daily routine ideas from Class 1 and 2 into more precise five-minute clock reading, a.m./p.m., and calendar and duration skills.

Full walkthrough: Chapter 13 Solutions for step-by-step textbook answers.

Written by Satish

NCERTBooks.org is an independent educational resource run by a small team focused on making official NCERT textbooks easy to find, read, and download for students, parents, and teachers across India. We are not affiliated with NCERT or the Ministry of Education -- we organise publicly available NCERT content by class and subject, verify links against official sources, and build tools (like our in-browser reader) that make studying more convenient. Every guide we publish is written and reviewed by our team based on the actual NCERT curriculum and syllabus.