How to Say Time in Spanish: How to say time in Spanish is a bit more than the phrase implies as we have to deal with the concept of time the way the Spanish community understands it.
How to Say Time in Spanish: A Guide to Telling Time
Time is essential to everything we do and our everyday activities as a matter of fact, you will hear phrases like “time flies” “the time is too short” or “there is no time.”
Like every other person, the Spanish people are not separated in the time discussion. Not exactly sure about these stats but it is stated that the Spanish are top tier when it comes to keeping to time.
For this particular reason, we will discuss how to say time in Spanish, together with every important detail about time that you need to know.
How to say Time in Spanish
This lesson will most likely not be like the other Spanish lesson that you have encountered as this will cover time comprehensively with respect to how the Spanish community sees it and deals with it.
It will even be easier for you if you understand how to count in Spanish as well as know the days in the weeks and other time-related words and phrases.
Let’s dive into it immediately.
¿Que hora es?
When discussing how to say time in Spanish, the phrase ¿Que hora es? is what comes to mind first because it means what the time?
You must first master the correct way to ask for the time in Spanish before you can tell the time in Spanish.
It’s impossible to be too cautious. Let’s make sure you don’t miss the Spanish celebration you’ve been looking forward to for weeks!
Along with the currently well-known “what time is it?” You can also ask tiene hora?, which means “what hour is it?” in English but literally, it means “do you have the hour?
What are the Basics of Spanish Time?
Remember that you only need to use the third-person singular form of ser when referring to one o’clock.
You can safely use the plural form for the remaining eleven hours. If the time is on the hour, here is some basic ideas on how to say time in Spanish:
| Spanish | English |
| 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 dieciséis (“it’s 16:00”) should be used instead of son las cuatro (“it’s 4 p.m.”) if you choose to utilize the 24-hour clock.
But for that, you’ll need to do a little more research. But don’t worry. Learning Spanish numerals is as simple as learning the time.
Faster than you can say “Jack Robinson,” you can master them.
How do You Say the Time in Spanish After 30?
The time does not always reflect the hour. What are the Spanish words for “half past,” “quarter past,” and “quarter to”? Just the two new words, media and cuarto, need to be retained.
Use the expressions y medium (half past the hour), y cuarto (quarter past the hour), and menos cuarto (less than the hour) for expressing the time in Spanish.
Let’s use this example as a guide:
| Spanish | English |
| Es la una y cuarto. | It’s one fifteen. |
| Son las dos y media. | It’s two thirty. |
| Son las seis menos cuarto. | It’s a quarter until six. |
Spanish time With the Hour and Minutes
Do you want to be a bit more specific? When you need to express the precise number of minutes that have passed since the hour, this is how Spanish time works.
Es/son + las + hour + number of minutes is the easiest formula. For instance, you would say son las tres veintinueve to indicate that it was 3:29.
There are so two ways to express some hours in Spanish, just as there are in English. When the time is 8:15, you can say:
| Spanish | English |
| Son las ocho y cuarto. | it’s a quarter past eight |
| Son las ocho y quince. | it’s eight and fifteen minutes |
How Do You Indicate the Time of Day in Spanish
When utilizing a 12-hour clock, it’s occasionally a good idea to include the time of day as well.
Son las dos de la tarde, for instance, translates to “it’s two in the afternoon” in Spanish. It’s not that difficult, is it?
Here are some other periods of the day that could be useful:
| Spanish | English |
| mañana | in the morning |
| mediodía | midday |
| tarde | in the afternoon |
| noche | at night |
| madrugada | the middle of the night |
| medianoche | midnight |
| amanecer | dawn |
Use the equation a + la(s) + time to show that an event occurs at a given timeh for example La clase de español empieza a las nueve which translate to Spanish class starts at nine.
Some time phrases That are Useful in Spanish listed below:
| Spanish | English |
| durante el día | during the day |
| de la tarde | in the afternoon |
| la mañana | morning or tomorrow |
| mañana por la mañana | tomorrow morning |
| anoche | last night |
| por la mañana | in the morning |
| la noche anterior, anteanoche | the night before last |
| el lunes que viene | next Monday |
| el año pasado | last year |
| temprano | early |
| por la tarde | in the afternoon |
| anteayer | the day before yesterday |
| al mediodía | at noon |
| el año que viene | next year |
| la semana pasada | last week |
| semana por medio | every other week |
| la semana que viene | next week |
| el lunes pasado | last Monday |
| ayer | yesterday |
| a la medianoche | at midnight |
| pasado mañana | the day after tomorrow |
| en punto | exactly or sharp |
| tarde | late |
| de la noche | in the evening or night |
| por la noche | in the evening or night |
Read Also:
- How to Say the Date in Spanish: Understand the Date and Time
- How to Say Cheers in Spanish: A Quick Guide
- How to Say Short in Spanish: A Quick Guide
- How to Say My Name is in Spanish: Introduce Yourself Like a Pro
- Hello in Brazilian Portuguese: Slangs that Means Hello
This piece of work is considered a guide because we cannot tell you everything there is but we are pretty sure we have covered a bit of everything with respect to how to say time in Spanish.
If you are really serious about learning the Spanish language, you should carry out other research with other Spanish phrases as it will help you understand the concept of the Spanish language better.
Time is a common factor in our everyday activities. It is somehow related and tied to everything with do and that is why it is important to get hold of how to say it in Spanish even if you are new to the Spanish language.
It is late at night, the time is quarter past 10, these are phrases we make use of every day and are cited in this work.
If you have any questions concerning How to Say Time in Spanish: A Guide to Telling Time, please feel free to use the comment box below and ask us your question. We will be very pleased to answer you.
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