Guide
How to write time zones in an email, with examples you can copy
"Let's talk at 5 pm tomorrow" is a perfectly clear sentence until the other person lives in a different country. Then it can mean two different hours, or even two different days. These rules make a meeting time impossible to misread, and the templates below are ready to copy.
The short version: write the day, the date, the time and a city, then the time for the other person in brackets:
Tuesday 10 November, 10:00 New York time (15:00 London, 20:00 Karachi)
1. Put the reader's time first
The person you're writing to should not have to do any maths. Lead with their local time and add yours in brackets: "Thursday at 10:00 your time (15:00 for me in Karachi)". For client calls this is also simply polite: it shows you've thought about their day.
2. Name a city, not just an abbreviation
Many time-zone abbreviations mean more than one thing. A city name can't be misread, and it also tells the reader's calendar which daylight-saving rules apply.
| Abbreviation | Can mean |
|---|---|
| IST | India Standard Time (UTC+5:30), Irish Standard Time (UTC+1, Ireland's summer time) or Israel Standard Time (UTC+2) |
| CST | US Central Standard Time (UTC−6), China Standard Time (UTC+8) or Cuba Standard Time (UTC−5) |
| BST | British Summer Time (UTC+1) or Bangladesh Standard Time (UTC+6) |
| PST | Pacific Standard Time (UTC−8), Pakistan Standard Time (UTC+5, usually written PKT) or Philippine Standard Time (UTC+8) |
| AST | Atlantic Standard Time (UTC−4) or Arabia Standard Time (UTC+3) |
3. EST is not New York time all year
EST (UTC−5) is only correct in winter. From March to November New York is on EDT (UTC−4). The same goes for PST and PDT on the US West Coast, and for GMT and BST in the UK: GMT is London's winter time only. Writing "10am EST" in July is, strictly, an hour off.
- Safe: "10:00 New York time", "10:00 ET", "15:00 UK time", "15:00 London".
- Risky: "10am EST" in summer, "3pm GMT" for a London meeting in July.
4. Spell out the day and the date
"10/11" is 10 November in the UK, Pakistan and most of the world, and October 11 in the US. Write "Tuesday 10 November" and the problem disappears. Adding the weekday is a free double-check: if the day and the date don't match, someone will notice.
5. Say when the date changes
Across big time differences a meeting can fall on a different day for each person. Say so in the email: "Monday 16 November, 09:00 in Sydney (Sunday 15 November, 14:00 in Los Angeles)". Otherwise the person in Los Angeles may turn up a day late.
6. Make am and pm impossible to miss
Use 24-hour time (15:00) or write am/pm clearly (3:00 pm). Avoid "12 am" and "12 pm", which people mix up: write "noon" or "midnight", or 12:00 and 00:00. For deadlines, "23:59 on Friday 13 November, London time" is clearer than "midnight Friday".
7. Add UTC for technical or very international groups
If people from many countries will read the email, a UTC time gives everyone the same reference point: "14:00 UTC (in November: 09:00 New York, 14:00 London, 19:00 Karachi)". Keep the city times too: most people don't know their own UTC offset by heart.
8. Send a calendar invite as well
An invite from Google Calendar or Outlook carries the time zone with it, so each guest sees the meeting at their own local time. The email explains; the invite makes sure the right hour ends up in everyone's diary.
Email templates you can copy
Proposing times to a client in another country
Would one of these times work for you?
· Tuesday 10 November, 9:00 New York time (19:00 for me in Lahore)
· Tuesday 10 November, 11:00 New York time (21:00 for me in Lahore)
I'll send a calendar invite as soon as you pick one.
Confirming a meeting
Great, see you on Thursday 12 November at 10:00 your time in London. That's 15:00 for me in Karachi. The invite with the video link is in your inbox.
A meeting across three or more countries
Our call is on Wednesday 11 November:
08:00 San Francisco · 11:00 New York · 16:00 London · 21:00 Karachi
Your email signature
Working hours: Monday–Friday, 9:00–17:00 Lahore time (UTC+5)
A signature like this answers "when can I reach you?" before anyone asks.
A 10-second check before you press Send
- Is there a weekday, a date and a city next to every time?
- Is the reader's time first?
- Does the date change for anyone? Did you say so?
- Is the meeting within a few weeks of a clock change? See the 2027 daylight-saving dates.
Skip the maths altogether. In AlignHour you pick the time on your client's clock, and it shows the time for every person invited, warns you about night-time and public holidays, and sends the invite from your Google Calendar.
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