student asking question

Are "every hour" and "on the hour" mean the same thing?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

"Every hour" and "on the hour" have different meanings. "Every hour" refers to something happening after an hour has passed. "On the hour" refers the exact start of an hour on a clock, like 12:00, 1:00, 2:00, etc. Therefore, this sentence means that Big Ben's chimes go off every time it is the start of an hour (14:00, 15:00, 16:00, etc.). Ex: Every hour, I drink some water to stay hydrated. Ex: It's 7:45 right now, I'm leaving for work on the hour (meaning 8:00).

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