When to Use “Mins” or “Min” as an Abbreviation for Minutes

Mins definition

In English, we add an “s” to make the plural form of countable nouns. This means that “mins” is the plural of “min,” the written abbreviation for “minute.”

I’ll be there in 1 min.

She was 2 mins late for the meeting.

The train will be here in 10 mins.

Minutes abbreviated

Although “mins” is a commonly used abbreviation for minutes, you should be aware that it is not correct for scientific use. The scientific abbreviation for units is always singular; for example, grams, milliliters, and watts become g, ml, and W. This means that “minutes” becomes “min,” with both singular and plural numbers.

Flight time is approximately 28 min.

The marathon winner averaged 5 min per mile.

As an adjective, “minute” is used in its singular form. This means that the abbreviation, albeit rarely used, should be singular too, for example, a 2-min walk or a 10-min jog.

Min or mins: short form of minutes

While you may now want to start writing “min” in all of your emails and text messages, know that it’s widely accepted to use “mins” outside of a scientific context. You can find out more about it from an online language tutor on LiveXP.

Time units abbreviations

The most frequently used units for time are hours (hrs), minutes (min), and seconds (s). Larger units include days, months, and years.