Telling Time in Spanish
To ask for the time, you will usually say “¿Qué hora es?”
To tell time, you use the feminine articles “la” and “las” and the verb “ser”. To say one o’clock, you use “es”, the third person singular form of “ser”. To express all other hours, you will use “son”, the third person plural form of “ser”.
Thus: It is one o’oclock. Es la una. It is four o’cl0ck. Son las cuatro. It is eleven o’clock. Son las once.
After passing an exact hour, the minutes can be expressed with the use of the word “y” (and).
Hence: 9:20 Son las nueve y veinte. It’s twenty minutes past nine. 1:03 Es la una y tres. It’s three minutes past one.
Time can likewise be expressed by using the word “menos”, meaning less, to state the number of minutes before the clock reaches another full hour.
Examples: …show more content…
It’s 21 minutes before nine. 12:50 Es la una menos diez. It’s 10 minutes till one.
The words media, meaning half, and cuarto, meaning quarter, may also be used to state the time:
2:30 Son las dos y media. It’s half past two.
3:15 Son las tres y cuarto. It’s quarter past three.
2:45 Son las tres menos cuarto. It’s quarter till three.
1:15 Es la una y cuarto. It’s quarter past one.
To distinguish between a.m. and p.m., the time expressions de la tarde, de la mañana, and de la noche are commonly used.
Son las tres de la tarde. It’s three o’clock in the afternoon.
Es la una de la mañana. It’s one o’clock in the morning.
Son las nueve de la noche. It’s nine o’clock in the evening.
The time expressions por la tarde, por la mañana, and por la noche are used when not referring to a particular time.
Bebo el café por la mañana. I drink coffee in the
To ask for the time, you will usually say “¿Qué hora es?”
To tell time, you use the feminine articles “la” and “las” and the verb “ser”. To say one o’clock, you use “es”, the third person singular form of “ser”. To express all other hours, you will use “son”, the third person plural form of “ser”.
Thus: It is one o’oclock. Es la una. It is four o’cl0ck. Son las cuatro. It is eleven o’clock. Son las once.
After passing an exact hour, the minutes can be expressed with the use of the word “y” (and).
Hence: 9:20 Son las nueve y veinte. It’s twenty minutes past nine. 1:03 Es la una y tres. It’s three minutes past one.
Time can likewise be expressed by using the word “menos”, meaning less, to state the number of minutes before the clock reaches another full hour.
Examples: …show more content…
It’s 21 minutes before nine. 12:50 Es la una menos diez. It’s 10 minutes till one.
The words media, meaning half, and cuarto, meaning quarter, may also be used to state the time:
2:30 Son las dos y media. It’s half past two.
3:15 Son las tres y cuarto. It’s quarter past three.
2:45 Son las tres menos cuarto. It’s quarter till three.
1:15 Es la una y cuarto. It’s quarter past one.
To distinguish between a.m. and p.m., the time expressions de la tarde, de la mañana, and de la noche are commonly used.
Son las tres de la tarde. It’s three o’clock in the afternoon.
Es la una de la mañana. It’s one o’clock in the morning.
Son las nueve de la noche. It’s nine o’clock in the evening.
The time expressions por la tarde, por la mañana, and por la noche are used when not referring to a particular time.
Bebo el café por la mañana. I drink coffee in the