How To Write Spanish Time

¿Que hora es? demands an answer! And no, we're not talking about the Mexican soap opera for people who only had 3 weeks of Spanish in the 4th grade (wink flash). In all seriousness, how do yous reply to the question that has been on everybody's lips at one point? How practice you tell the fourth dimension in Castilian? Well, it'south time (wink flash) to find out.

I know what you think and it'due south true. Nosotros're lucky enough to live in an era of rapid technological advancements. Even if you don't own a lookout, you probably have a smartphone. Asking or telling the time in Spanish or any other language may seem obsolete. But what if your telephone's bombardment is dead? I for one had a pretty interesting experience when I had to survive one week without a telephone. I kept asking random people the time to brand sure I wasn't tardily and they looked at me like I was some kind of an alien. So yep, knowing how to tell the time in Spanish tin make all the difference!

One more affair! If you've learned how to count in Castilian, it will be extremely easy for you.

Simply showtime things starting time.

Spanish time

¿Que hora es? – how to ask for the time in Spanish

In guild to tell the time in Spanish, you'll first have to learn how to properly ask for the time in Spanish. Yous can never be too cautious. I'thou only making sure you're non missing that fiesta española you lot spent weeks thinking about!

In improver to the now well-known ¿que hora es? which literally translates to "what hour is it?", you can as well ask ¿tiene hora? which is literally "exercise you have the hour?". Like shooting fish in a barrel enough!

The basics of Castilian time

To decir la hora ("tell the time") in Spanish, there are a few simple rules you'll accept to know.

First of all, always utilize the verb ser . No, not estar, but ser. If you lot don't know what Castilian verbs are all about, y'all might want to check this little guide for beginners. To put it only, fourth dimension is a permanent entity that requires the use of the verb ser.

Secondly, remember that only when talking nigh one o'clock, you'll demand to use the third person atypical form of ser. For all the other eleven hours, you can safely go with the plural form. Here'due south how to tell the time in Spanish if the fourth dimension is on the hr:

Es la una. – Information technology's one o'clock.
Son las dos. – It's two o'clock.
Son las tres. – It'southward three o'clock.
Son las cuatro. – It's 4 o'clock.
Son las cinco. – Information technology'due south 5 o'clock.
Son las seis. – It'southward six o'clock.
Son las siete. – It'south 7 o'clock.
Son las ocho. – It'southward 8 o'clock.
Son las nueve. – It's ix o'clock.
Son las diez. – It's x o'clock.
Son las once. – It'due south xi o'clock.
Son las doce. – It's twelve o'clock.

Every bit you lot tin see, the feminine article (la/las) is used before the number. Why is that? Well, because it refers to la hora. But again, remember that the singular form la volition but be used in the instance of "one o'clock" because we're talking about a single hour.

Nota bene: If you lot prefer to use the 24-60 minutes clock, you should say son las dieciséis ("it's 16:00") instead of son las cuatro ("it's iv o'clock p.m."). But that will require a fiddling more studying on your part. Don't worry though. Spanish numbers are just as piece of cake every bit learning how to tell the time. You can principal them with Mondly faster than yous tin can say Jack Robinson. Y'all can get started hither.

How practise yous say the time in Spanish after xxx?

At present, the fourth dimension is non e'er on the 60 minutes. Then how practice you say "one-half past", "quarter by" and "quarter to" in Spanish? There are merely 2 new words you demand to remember: media and cuarto .

If it'south half past the 60 minutes in Castilian, use the phrase y media ;
If information technology's a quarter past the 60 minutes, use the phrase y cuarto ;
If it's a quarter until the hr, utilise the phrase menos cuarto .

Hither are some examples:

2:30 – Son las dos y media. – It'southward ii thirty.
ane:15 – Es la una y cuarto. – It's one fifteen.
5:45 – Son las seis menos cuarto. – It's a quarter until 6.

telling time in spanish — Telling time in Castilian – a visual guide

60 minutes + minutes in Castilian fourth dimension

Wanna be a piddling more than specific? Here's how Spanish time works when you lot need to signal the exact number of minutes that have past from the 60 minutes.

The simplest formula is es/son + las + hr + number of minutes. For example, if you desire to say that it's 3:29 , y'all'll say son las tres veintinueve.

Thus, the aforementioned as in English, at that place will be two ways in which you can indicate some hours in Spanish. If it's 8:15, you can say:

Son las ocho y cuarto. ("it's a quarter past eight")
Son las ocho y quince. ("it'due south viii and fifteen minutes")

Different means of telling time in Spanish

There are three formulas of telling time in Spanish. Here are different ways of telling information technology's 3:ten:

es/son + las + hr + number of minutes – Son las tres diez
es/son + las + hour + y + number of minutes – Son las tres y diez
es/son + las + hour + con + number of minutes – Son las tres con diez

Which one practise you prefer? Additionally, if we likewise count it cuarto and media, there are no less than 4 unlike ways to tell the fourth dimension in Spanish. And you've simply mastered them all!

How to point the time of day in Castilian

If you are using the 12-hour clock, you sometimes might desire to also point out the time of day. For case, "it'due south two in the afternoon" translates to son las dos de la tarde in Spanish. Not too complicated, is it? Here are some more times of twenty-four hours that might come in handy:

mediodía – midday
mañana – in the morning
noche – at nighttime
madrugada – the middle of the dark
medianoche – midnight
amanecer – dawn
tarde – in the afternoon

To indicate that an event occurs at a specific time, use the formula a + la(due south) + fourth dimension: La clase de español empieza a las nueve – "The Spanish form begins at 9".

Other useful time phrases in Spanish

por la mañana – in the morning
por la tarde – in the afternoon
de la tarde – in the afternoon
al mediodía – at noon
a la medianoche – at midnight
por la noche – in the evening or night
de la noche – in the evening or dark
la mañana – morning or tomorrow
mañana por la mañana – tomorrow morning
pasado mañana – the twenty-four hour period after tomorrow
tarde – late
temprano – early
en punto – exactly or sharp (sonlas ocho en punto – "information technology'south exactly eight o'clock")
ayer – yesterday
anteayer – the twenty-four hours before yesterday
anoche – last nighttime
la noche anterior, anteanoche – the night before
last el lunes que viene – adjacent Mon
el lunes pasado – last Mon
la semana que viene – next week
semana por medio – every other week
la semana pasada – terminal week
el año que viene – adjacent twelvemonth
el año pasado – last year
durante el día – during the day

A guide for telling the time in Castilian ends here but it doesn't mean cease learning Castilian. Continue to master Castilian with daily lessons, quizzes, and practices.

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