时间在美式英语中怎么用?

魔法师jia, what is "nine past fifty"? With my professional translation, that will be 50:9(五十点九分,你过两天呵). And, nine to ten should be 9:51, nah, you are killing me.
Wow, that is the biggest joke in 21st century.

past:X小时Y分, 就是Y past X (在北美国家,分钟数小于30才用past.如果是等于30分钟的话,要说"half past X".其实怎么用都可以,只是不规范)
example:
1:03=three past one
4:12=twelve past four
7:30=half past seven

to:X小时Y分, 就是(60-Y) to (X+1) (同样,分钟数大于30的才用这个比较"难受"的说法.)
example:
6:31=twenty-nine to seven
9:48=twelve to ten
10:51=nine to eleven

还有,在北美,人们不用这种说法,他们就是先说小时数,再说分钟数.
example:
3:08=three O eight(O就是英语字母表里第15个字母,等于数字零)
5:38=five thirty-eight
11:45=eleven fourty-five

15分钟可以说成一个quarter
example:
2:15=a quarter past two
3:45=a quarter to four

8.50 是 ten to 9 ，差10分钟9点
9.10 是 9 past 10 ，9点过10分
1：58 2 to 2

8.50 就是 nine past fifty
9.10就是 nine to ten