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minute ~ minute ~ minuet

[‘1. minute’ is pronounced as “mi-nit”; ‘2. minute’ is pronounced as “my-newt”; and ‘minuet’ is pronounced as ‘mi-new-et’.  Therefore, we should be extremely careful while saying these words or reading them out from a text.]

“Minute” (mi-nit) (noun) is ‘(a measurement of time) the sixtieth part of one hour (60 minutes)’,

e.g.

You’re late by five minutes.

“What’s the time now, please?”  (reply) “It’s fifteen minutes past ten.”

Just a minute; I’m coming.

{“Minutes” as a noun word, always used in its plural form, is ‘summary or written record of what has been decided, suggested or discussed at a meeting’, for example, ‘The secretary is taking down the minutes of the board meeting.’}

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“Minute” (my-newt) (adjective) means ‘very small; very negligible difference; very careful and giving importance to very simple points’,

e.g.

Even though he was put in jail for two years, there isn’t a minute change in his criminal mind.

He told us about the car accident in minute detail.

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“Minuet” (mi-new-et) (noun) is ‘a kind of slow dance first performed some three hundred years ago’,

e.g.

Some of the new dances may have originated form the minuet.

Common Errors:

1.

The bus-station is just a ten minutes walk.   [wrong]

The bus-station is just a ten-minute walk.    [right]

2.

The flight landed at exactly fifteen past four.  [wrong]

The flight landed at exactly fifteen minutes past four.  [right]

[When telling the time, we must use the word ‘minutes’ with all the numbers except five, ten, twenty & twenty-five, e.g. What time is it, please? → with the number fifteen, seven,  = "It's fifteen minutes past two." However, with the numbers 'five', 'ten', twenty' & 'twenty-five' we do not use 'minutes' after the numbers:  "It's five past two." or "It's ten to three." or "It's four twenty." or "it's twenty-five past eleven."]

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