Military Time Converter
The military time converter turns 3:45 PM into 1545 and 1545 into 3:45 PM, with how the time is said aloud and the full hour-by-hour table.
Military time
- Regular (12-hour) time
- 3:45 PM
- 24-hour clock
- 15:45
- Said aloud
- fifteen forty-five
- How it converts
- PM: 3 + 12 = 15
- Minutes since midnight
- 945
| Military time | 24-hour clock | 12-hour clock | Said aloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0000 | 00:00 | 12:00 AM (midnight) | zero hundred |
| 0100 | 01:00 | 1:00 AM | zero one hundred |
| 0200 | 02:00 | 2:00 AM | zero two hundred |
| 0300 | 03:00 | 3:00 AM | zero three hundred |
| 0400 | 04:00 | 4:00 AM | zero four hundred |
| 0500 | 05:00 | 5:00 AM | zero five hundred |
| 0600 | 06:00 | 6:00 AM | zero six hundred |
| 0700 | 07:00 | 7:00 AM | zero seven hundred |
| 0800 | 08:00 | 8:00 AM | zero eight hundred |
| 0900 | 09:00 | 9:00 AM | zero nine hundred |
| 1000 | 10:00 | 10:00 AM | ten hundred |
| 1100 | 11:00 | 11:00 AM | eleven hundred |
| 1200 | 12:00 | 12:00 PM (noon) | twelve hundred |
| 1300 | 13:00 | 1:00 PM | thirteen hundred |
| 1400 | 14:00 | 2:00 PM | fourteen hundred |
| 1500 | 15:00 | 3:00 PM | fifteen hundred |
| 1600 | 16:00 | 4:00 PM | sixteen hundred |
| 1700 | 17:00 | 5:00 PM | seventeen hundred |
| 1800 | 18:00 | 6:00 PM | eighteen hundred |
| 1900 | 19:00 | 7:00 PM | nineteen hundred |
| 2000 | 20:00 | 8:00 PM | twenty hundred |
| 2100 | 21:00 | 9:00 PM | twenty-one hundred |
| 2200 | 22:00 | 10:00 PM | twenty-two hundred |
| 2300 | 23:00 | 11:00 PM | twenty-three hundred |
How the Military Time Converter works
Military time, also called army time, is the 24-hour clock written as four digits with no colon, so army time conversion and military time conversion are the same arithmetic. The first two digits are the hour, from 00 to 23, and the last two are the minutes. 0000 is midnight, 0600 is 6:00 AM, 1200 is noon and 1545 is 3:45 PM. Hospitals, police and fire departments, airlines and the armed forces use it because no time can be read two ways. 0700 and 1900 are twelve hours apart and nobody confuses them, while "7:00" on its own could be either.
To convert time to military time, start with the hour. For an AM time, keep the hour and write it with two digits: 7:30 AM is 0730. For a PM time from 1 PM to 11 PM, add 12: 3:45 PM is 15 and 45, so 1545. Two hours break the pattern. 12 PM is noon and stays 1200. 12 AM is midnight and becomes 0000. The minutes never change.
To convert military time to regular time, go the other way. From 1300 to 2359, subtract 12 from the hour and write PM: 1545 is 3:45 PM, and 2130 is 9:30 PM. From 0100 to 1159 the time is AM: drop the leading zero, so 0730 is 7:30 AM. Hour 12 is PM, so 1230 is 12:30 PM. Hour 00 is 12 AM, so 0015 is 12:15 AM.
The 12 AM and 12 PM confusion has a reason. Noon is neither before nor after midday, and midnight is both the end of one day and the start of the next, so the labels are a convention rather than something the words decide. The US convention is that 12:00 PM is noon and 12:00 AM is midnight at the start of a day. Many style guides avoid both and write noon and midnight instead. Military time skips the problem: noon is 1200 and midnight is 0000.
2400 exists too. It is the end of a day, the same instant as 0000 of the next. A shift from 1600 to 2400 ends at midnight tonight, and a deadline of 2400 on Friday means the last moment of Friday. The time after 2359 is 0000, so 2401 is not a time. In written orders a letter after the time names the zone, and Z is UTC.
Said aloud, military time reads the hour as a number and the minutes as a number, and says "hundred" on the hour. 1545 is "fifteen forty-five", 0800 is "zero eight hundred", and 2000 is "twenty hundred". A leading zero is said "zero", so 0905 is "zero nine zero five". Civilians often say "oh" instead, as in "oh nine hundred", and many people add "hours" at the end.
Military Time Converter FAQ
Is 12 AM midnight or noon?
Midnight. 12:00 AM is 0000, the first minute of the day, and 12:00 PM is noon, 1200. The hour after 12:59 AM is 1:00 AM, so 12 AM comes before 1 AM.
What is 2400 in military time?
The end of a day. 2400 is the same instant as 0000 of the next day, so a shift written 1600 to 2400 ends at midnight tonight. After 2359 the clock goes to 0000, and 2401 is not a time.
How do I convert 3:45 PM to military time?
It is PM and after 12:59, so add 12 to the hour: 3 + 12 = 15. Keep the minutes. 3:45 PM is 1545, said "fifteen forty-five".
How do I convert military time to regular time?
If the hour is 13 or more, subtract 12 and write PM: 1830 is 6:30 PM. If it is 12, write PM: 1215 is 12:15 PM. If it is 00, write 12 and AM: 0030 is 12:30 AM. Otherwise drop any leading zero and write AM.
Is military time the same as the 24-hour clock?
The digits are the same. The 24-hour clock usually puts a colon between hours and minutes, 15:45, and military time leaves it out, 1545. Said aloud, military time often ends in "hours": 1545 is "fifteen forty-five hours".