Telling Time

1. ¿Qué hora es? (What Time Is It?)

watch

When giving the current time in Spanish, there are certain steps for you to follow:

step by step

1. Start your sentence with Son las..., unless you are starting with one o’clock, in which case you would say, Es la...: Es la una. Son las dos. Son las tres. Son las is used with all of the plural hours.
2. State the nearest hour. If it is 4:15, you would begin your phrase, Son las cuatro.... However, if it is 4:45, you would begin your phrase Son las cinco... because the time is closer to 5:00 than to 4:00.
3. Connect the hour and the minutes with either: y (and) or menos (minus). If it is the first half of the hour (from one minute to 30 minutes past the hour), you will use y. If it is the second half of the hour, you will use menos. Using the above examples, 4:15 would begin Son las cuatro y... and 4:45 would begin Son las cinco menos....
4. Next, you need to say the number of minutes either after the hour or before the hour that you stated (the latter will require some math!): 4:15 would be Son las cuatro y quince and 4:45 would be Son las cinco menos quince.
5. Finally, add any descriptive phrases you’d like. You will find these in the list below, along with some other helpful expressions you can use when talking about time.

Additionally, there is an easier, more casual way of telling time. You can simply state the hour and then add the number of minutes.

EXAMPLE

audio (92).mp3

4:50 could be stated as Son las cuatro y cincuenta.

Some Spanish speakers will use para when subtracting minutes from the next hour and stating the minutes.

EXAMPLE

Instead of Son las siete menos diez, they might say,

Son las diez para las siete, which would translate to "It’s ten till seven" or "It’s ten of seven."

did you know

Many digital clocks and schedules in Spanish-speaking countries will display 24-hour time (military time). In this system, 1:00 p.m. is displayed as 13:00, 2:00 p.m. would be 14:00, and so on. 24:00 or 00:00 is midnight.

try it

How would you state the following times in Spanish? Click on the plus sign to see the answer.

1. 7:10

Answer: Son las siete y diez.

2. 11:25

Answer: Son las once y veinticinco.

3. 1:05

Answer: Es la una y cinco.

4. 2:40

Answer: Son las tres menos veinte. Or, Son las dos y cuarenta.

5. 12:50

Answer: Es la una menos diez. Or, Son las doce y cincuenta.

2. Describing Time

In Spanish, they do not say a.m. or p.m. to describe the part of the day. Instead, you will choose from:

	de la mañana	De la mañana is used to talk about any morning hour (from midnight to noon).
	de la tarde	De la tarde refers to the afternoon hours (noon until suppertime). Depending upon what time supper is eaten in a particular country, de la tarde might be used until as late as 10 o’clock.
	de la noche	De la noche is used from suppertime until midnight.

try it

How would you state the following times using the more specific expressions from above? Click on the plus sign to see the answer.

1. 5:15 p.m.

Answer: Son las cinco y cuarto (quince) de la tarde.

2. 9:30 a.m.

Answer: Son las nueve y media (treinta) de la mañana.

3. 12:00 p.m.

Answer: Es mediodía. Or, Son las doce.

4. 11:10 p.m.

Answer: Son las once y diez de la noche.

5. 2:00 p.m.

Answer: Son las dos en punto de la tarde.

3. ¿A qué hora? (At What Time?)

When telling someone at what hour something will occur, you can start by following the exact same steps as above and using the same list of expressions to help you.

However, instead of beginning your sentence with Es la... or Son las..., you will begin your sentence with A la... or A las....

EXAMPLE

	¿A qué hora empieza la película? translates as "(At) what time does the movie start?"
	A las ocho translates as "At eight o’clock."

The following dialogue demonstrates a typical exchange between two students using various time expressions. First, you will hear the conversation in Spanish; then, you will hear the English translation.