Telling The Time In Spanish

How to Tell the Time in Spanish

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Do you want to know what time it is? Asking the time is simple in Spanish. All you need to ask is:

¿Qué hora es?

Literally, this question means: What hour is it? But we translate it as: What time is it?

If you wish to ask a stranger for the time in a more polite way, you could say

¿Me puede decir la hora, por favor?

This question means, Can you please tell me the time?

You already have all the vocabulary you need to understand the answer. All you need are the verb ser and the numbers.

The sentence structure for telling the time is similar to English.

What time is it? - It is twelve thirty.
¿Qué hora es? - Son las doce y media.

In most cases, you will start the answer with Son las….

Por ejemplo:

1. ¿Qué hora es? (9:25)– (Son las nueve y veinticinco.)

2. ¿Me puede decir la hora, por favor? (3:32) –(Son las tres y treinta y dos.)

Exception at One O’Clock

Nevertheless, there is an exception. If it is only one o’clock, you will start the answer with Es la….

¿Qué hora es? (1:00) – Es la una.

That is because the verb ser must agree with the quantity of the subject, hours.

Do you know why the feminine “la” and “las” are used?
Hint: what gender is “hora”?

International Variations

In some parts of the Spanish-speaking world, you hear the question, “¿Qué hora es?” asked as “¿Qué hora son?” Your answer will always begin “Son las…”, regardless of whether the hour that follows is singular or multiple. Por ejemplo … “¿Qué hora son?” “Son las una."

Talking about Quarter Hours and Thirty Minutes

As in English, you can also tell the time in 15- or 30-minute chunks.

15 min/quarter = cuarto
30 min/half = media

Por ejemplo:

1. ¿Qué hora es? (2:15) – Son las dos y cuarto.
It’s a quarter past two.

2. ¿Qué hora es? (1:30) – Es la una y media.
It’s half past one.

You can also tell how much time remains until striking the hour. For example,

a quarter to… = cuarto para las…

Por ejemplo:

1. ¿Qué hora es? (3:45) – Es cuarto para las cuatro.

2. ¿Qué hora es? (2:55) – Son cinco para las tres.

Is it Morning or Night?

You can indicate morning or afternoon by using am and pm just as you would in English.

Alternatively, you may say
de la mañana - (in the morning)
de la tarde - (in the afternoon), or
de la noche - (for in the evening)

Por ejemplo:

1. ¿Qué hora es? (10:23am)
– Son las diez y veintitrés de la mañana

2. ¿Qué hora es? (6:05pm) – Son las seis y cinco de la tarde

3. ¿Qué hora es? (11:45pm) – Es cuarto para las doce de la noche

Asking at What Time Something will Occur

When you need to ask the time that a meeting or certain activity is going to take place, you can use the phrase:

¿A qué hora…?

This means, At what time…?

Por ejemplo:

1. ¿A qué hora te levantaste hoy?
- At what time did you get up today?

 

 

2. ¿A qué hora nos juntamos esta noche?
- At what time should we meet tonight?

 

 

In the next section we’ll work on Spanish Verbs in the Present Tense and Conjugation

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