An analog clock has two hands, the shorter one is the hour hand and the longer one is the minute hand. Both hands circle the clock to the right.When reading the hour hand, each tick mark represents one hour. If the hour hand is directly on a number or anywhere past it, that is the current hour.When reading the minute hand, each tick mark represents 5 minutes past the hour. If the minute hand is on the 4, that means it is 20 minutes past the hour.When the minute hand is on the 3, it is a quarter past the hour. When it is on the 6, it is half past the hour. When it is on the 9, it is a quarter to the hour.