Hello, there! Today we will study how to Tell Time in Spanish. But, what time means? As you know, time is a relative concept. Today we will focus on Time-related to the hour. So, let’s get started!
How to ask for the time?
Contents
You will need this every time you loose your cellphone or if you want to start a conversation. The question in Spanish is: ¿Qué hora es? Repeat after me: ¿Qué-hora-es?. Literally, this means: What time is it?
Now that you know that, let’s see how to answer.
Let’s see the vocabulary in this table:
| Es la una | It’s one o’clock |
| Son las dos | It’s two o’clock |
| Son las tres | It’s three o’clock |
| Son las cuatro | It’s four o’clock |
| Son las cinco | It’s five o’clock |
| Son las seis | It’s six o’clock |
| Son las siete | It’s seven o’clock |
| Son las ocho | It’s eight o’clock |
| Son las nueve | It’s nine o’clock |
| Son las diez | It’s ten o’clock |
| Son las once | It’s eleven o’clock |
| Son las doce | It’s twelve o’clock |
The big difference between the way to say time in English and in Spanish is the order of the numbers. For example, to tell this time: 5.45, you would say ‘it’s a quarter to six’ in English. In Spanish, you have to say ‘Son las seis menos cuarto’. So, literally, you are saying: It’s six minus a quarter.
Vocabulary for telling the time
Now let’s see how to say what comes after, if we are not at o’clock time:
| Son las dos y cinco | It’s two five |
| Son las dos y diez | It’s two ten |
| Son las dos y cuarto or Son las dos y quince | It’s a quarter past two / It’s two fifteen |
| Son las dos y veinte | It’s two twenty |
| Son las dos y veinticinco | It’s two twenty-five |
| Son las dos y media or Son las dos y treinta | It’s half past two or It’s two-thirty |
| Son las tres menos cuarto or Son las dos y treinta y cinco | It’s a quarter to three or It’s two thirty-five |
| Son las tres menos veinte or Son las dos y cuarenta | It’s twenty to three or It’s two-forty |
| Son las tres menos cuarto or Son las dos y cuarenta y cinco | It’s a quarter to three or It’s two forty-five |
| Son las tres menos diez or Son las dos y cincuenta | It’s ten to three or It’s two-fifty |
| Son las tres menos cinco or Son las dos y cincuenta y cinco | It’s five to three or It’s two fifty-five |
One important thing about telling the time is that every time you answer, you have to use the ver “Ser” in plural and 3rd person, so, ‘son’ and then the feminine plural article ‘las’. That’s because the hour is a feminine noun and the hours are plural except when we are talking about ‘1’. For example:
-¿Qué hora es?
-Son las 3 y media (It’s 3.30)
But,
-¿Qué hora es?
-Es la una y media (It’s 1.30)
And what about am and pm?
Be aware that in Latin America we use the 24-hour system. So it’s very probable that if you receive a message in Spanish for an appointment you see something like La clase empieza a las 16:30 (The class starts at 4.30 pm).
Also, notice that we use the word ‘y’ (and) to express time, for example, Son las 2 y media (It’s half past two). Or: Es la una y diez (It’s one ten).
Okay, that was all for today. Remember you can have a trial class, just contact us today and schedule it! See you soon!
