Telling the time in Spanish - vocabulary and expressions Share Copied!
Spanish
Learn to tell time in Spanish using "Es la" and "Son las," express minutes and parts of the day, and use adverbs like "hoy" and "mañana".
Video
Podcast
Saying the time in Spanish
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
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We use "es la" followed by the hour for times between 1 o'clock and 2 o'clock. |
|
| Es la una. | It's one o'clock. |
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For times other than 1 o'clock, we use "son las" before stating the hour. |
|
| Son las cinco. | It's five o'clock. |
|
"Media hora" means it's half past the hour. |
|
| Media hora. | Half an hour. |
| Dos y cuarto. | Two fifteen. |
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For times within the second half of the hour, use the phrase "y" (and) to specify minutes after the hour. |
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| Son las nueve y cuarenta y cinco. | It's nine forty-five. |
| Aproximadamente las tres. | Around three o'clock. |
State the hour first, followed by the minutes.
For example: "Son las tres y cuarto." => "It's three fifteen."
Dialogue on saying the time
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¡Hola! ¿Qué hora es? | Hi! What's the time? |
| Son las dos. | It's two o'clock. |
| ¿Y cuándo es tu reunión? | And when is your meeting? |
| Mi reunión es a las once de la mañana. | My meeting is at eleven in the morning. |
| Genial, nos vemos a las diez. | Great, see you at ten. |
| Nos vemos | See you, we see each other. |
Parts of the day in Spanish
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| La mañana. | The morning. |
| Use "la mañana" for the time from sunrise to noon. | |
| La tarde. | The afternoon. |
| Use "la tarde" for the time from noon to sunset. | |
| La noche. | The evening or the night. |
| Use "la noche" for the time from sunset to midnight. | |
When talking about parts of the day, use the definite articles "la" or "el" before the name of the period.
For example: "La mañana." => "The morning."
Dialogue on the parts of the day
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¡Hola! ¿Qué parte del día es? | Hello! What part of the day is it? |
| Es la tarde. | It's the afternoon. |
| ¿Cómo estás disfrutando de la tarde? | How are you enjoying the afternoon? |
| Estoy esperando a la noche. | I'm waiting for the night. |
| Espero que tengas planes emocionantes para esta noche. | I hope you have exciting plans for tonight. |
Adverbs of time (yesterday, today, tomorrow,...)
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Hoy | Today |
| Ayer | Yesterday |
| Mañana | Tomorrow |
| Ahora | Now |
| Anoche | Last night |
Adverbs of time in Spanish generally come after the verb in a sentence.
For example: "Ella fue al cine ayer." => "She went to the cinema yesterday."
Dialogue on the adverbs of time
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¡Hola! ¿Qué está pasando ahora? | Hi! What's happening now? |
| Pasando | Happening |
| Hoy estamos aprendiendo español. | Today, we're learning Spanish. |
| ¿Y mañana? | And tomorrow? |
| Mañana vamos al parque. | Tomorrow, we're going to the park. |
| El parque | The park |
| ¿Qué hiciste ayer? | What did you do yesterday? |
| Ayer por la noche fuimos a casa a cenar. | Last night we went home to have dinner. |
| Fuimos a casa | We went home |
Key takeaways
Here is a quick summary of this lesson.
- Use "Es la" for 1 o'clock and "Son las" for all other hours when telling the time.
- Express minutes with "y," as in "Son las cinco y cuarto" (It's 5:15), and use "media" for half past the hour.
- When talking about parts of the day, use the definite articles "la" or "el" before the name of the period.
- In Spanish, time adverbs typically follow the verb in a sentence.
