# Time format **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 1, 2006, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-format/366926 "2006-08-01T19:40:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stoneshadow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@stoneshadow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stoneshadow)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2006, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-format/366926/1 "2006-08-01T19:40:20Z")
Hi I grew up in South Africa and my whole life I have written time in the format 23h59, 09h12 etc. Where does the “h” that I use come from as no one I know in the UK has ever seen time written in this format before. The only mention I can find on the net is that they use this format in France. My brother went to a different school than I did and he also writes his time in this format. Any help appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2006, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-format/366926/2 "2006-08-01T19:48:43Z")
> [@stoneshadow](#): > > Hi > > I grew up in South Africa and my whole life I have written time in the format 23h59, 09h12 etc. > > Where does the “h” that I use come from as no one I know in the UK has ever seen time written in this format before. The only mention I can find on the net is that they use this format in France. My brother went to a different school than I did and he also writes his time in this format. > > Any help appreciated. I’ve seen this format and always assumed it stood for hours. I have no cite though. ---
**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-format/366926/3 "2006-08-01T19:57:20Z")
In most of Europe they use 23:59 and 9:12,while most americans go with 11:59 PM and 9:12 AM, respectively. [Wikipedia linkabout time notation by country](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_and_time_notation_by_country) ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2006, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-format/366926/4 "2006-08-01T19:58:09Z")
23h59m29s ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-format/366926/5 "2006-08-02T03:51:51Z")
It’s a simple way of writing 24-hour time (as opposed to 12-hour (AM-PM) time) if you fear people might confuse hours for minutes and minutes for seconds. It’s (to my eyes) better than any other format I’ve seen, but I’m somewhat uncommon among Americans in preferring 24-hour over 12-hour time. (There are a good deal of Americans like me in this respect, but we’re still an overall minority.)