Time in Spanish

• Time in Spanish involves knowing how to ask for the time, state the time, and use expressions of time.

Asking for the Time

• "¿Qué hora es?" translates to "What time is it?"

Telling Time: "Es la/Son las"

• The verb "ser" (to be) is used in the third person singular or plural to tell time.
• "Es la" is used for one o'clock.
• "Son las" is used for all other hours.

One O'Clock

• "Es la una" is used for one o'clock.
• To specify minutes after one, add "y" + the number of minutes.
  • For example: Es la una y cinco (It's one oh five).

Hours 2-12

• "Son las" is used for hours two through twelve.
  • For example: Son las dos (It's two o'clock), Son las tres (It's three o'clock).
• Add "y" + the number of minutes to specify minutes after the hour.
  • For example: Son las cuatro y diez (It's four ten).

Minutes 1-30

• To specify minutes past the hour up to 30 minutes, use "y" followed by the number of minutes.
  • For example: Son las seis y veinte (It's six twenty), Son las once y veinticinco (It's eleven twenty-five).

Quarter Past

• "y cuarto" means "quarter past" or "fifteen minutes after."
  • For example: Son las dos y cuarto (It's quarter past two).

Half Past

• "y media" means "half past" or "thirty minutes after."
  • For example: Es la una y media (It's half past one), Son las cinco y media (It's half past five).

Minutes 31-59

• Times from 31 to 59 minutes are expressed as "minutes until the next hour."
• Use "menos" (minus) followed by the number of minutes remaining until the next hour.

Subtracting Minutes

• Instead of adding minutes, subtract them from the upcoming hour
  • Son las tres menos diez (It's ten to three, or 2:50).
  • Son las ocho menos veinticinco (It's twenty-five to eight, or 7:35).

Quarter To

• "menos cuarto" means "quarter to" or "fifteen minutes before the hour."
  • For example: Son las diez menos cuarto (It's quarter to ten).

Noon and Midnight

• "Es el mediodía" means noon.
• "Es la medianoche" means midnight.

AM and PM

• "de la mañana" (in the morning) is used from midnight (0:00) to noon (12:00).
• "de la tarde" (in the afternoon/evening) is used from noon (12:00) to sunset (approximately 19:00 or 7 pm).
• "de la noche" (at night) is used from sunset (approximately 19:00 or 7 pm) to midnight (0:00).

Examples with AM/PM

• Es la una de la tarde means It's one PM.
• Son las ocho de la mañana means It's eight AM.
• Son las once de la noche means It's eleven PM.

Using “En punto"

• "En punto" means "exactly" or "o'clock sharp."
  • Es la una en punto (It's one o'clock sharp).
  • Son las seis en punto (It's six o'clock sharp).

Expressing Time Ranges

• "A eso de" means around or about.
  • La clase empieza a eso de las nueve (The class starts around nine.)

Duration of Time

• "¿Cuánto tiempo?" means "How long?".
• "por" + [time period] means "for" + [time period].
  • Estudié español por dos horas means I studied Spanish for two hours.

Prepositions of Time

• "a las" means at (a specific time).
  • La reunión es a las tres means The meeting is at three o'clock.
• "en" means in (a period of time).
  • Terminaré el trabajo en dos días means I will finish the work in two days.
• "durante" means during.
  • Estudié durante la noche means I studied during the night.
• "desde" means from.
  • Trabajo desde las nueve means I work from nine o'clock.
• "hasta" means until.
  • Trabajo hasta las cinco means I work until five o'clock.

Common Time-Related Phrases

• "a tiempo" means on time.
• "temprano" means early.
• "tarde" means late.
• "siempre" means always.
• "nunca" means never.
• "a veces" means sometimes.

Example Sentences

• ¿A qué hora es la fiesta? means What time is the party?
• La película comienza a las siete y media de la noche means The movie starts at seven thirty PM.
• Necesito llegar al aeropuerto a las diez de la mañana means I need to arrive at the airport at ten AM.