Meaning & use
hour
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A period of time equal to sixty minutes, one of the twenty-four parts of a day.
Grammar: Countable: 'an hour', 'two hours'. Use 'an' because the 'h' is silent.
Patterns
- an hour
- for an hour
- in an hour
The meeting lasted for two hours.
I'll be back in an hour.
She waited for half an hour.
nouncountable
A particular point in time, especially on a clock.
Grammar: Often used in the plural: 'at all hours'.
Patterns
- at an early hour
- at all hours
He called me at a very late hour.
The store stays open at all hours.
nouncountable
A fixed period of time for work, study, or an activity.
Grammar: Often plural: 'office hours', 'working hours'.
Patterns
- working hours
- office hours
- visiting hours
The library's opening hours are 9 to 5.
She works long hours.
Word forms
| plural | hours |
|---|
Common combinations
- half an hour
- The journey takes half an hour.
- rush hour
- Avoid driving during rush hour.
- hour by hour
- The situation changed hour by hour.
- at the eleventh hour
- They reached an agreement at the eleventh hour.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
Commonly confused: hour or our? hour or are?
hour vs our
Pronounced the same in some accents, but 'our' means belonging to us.
hour vs are
A verb; not related to time.
Practice
I waited for ______ hour.
Choose one answer.
Use 'an' before a vowel sound; 'hour' starts with a vowel sound because the 'h' is silent. 'A' would be wrong because it's used before consonant sounds.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hour”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.