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Spanish - Telling Time

In Spanish the to be (ser) and numbers are used for telling time.

1:00 - Es la una.	2:00 - Son las dos.	3:00 - Son las tres.
It is one.	It is two.	It is three.

7:00 - Son las siete.
It is seven.

In Spanish you express time from the hour to the half-hour by adding minutes same as in English.

4:17 - Son las cuatro y diecisiete	9:22 - Son las nueve y veintidos.
It is four and seventeen.	It is nine and twenty-two.

To express fifteen minutes or quarter past you can use y cuarto or y quince.

8:15 - Son las ocho y cuarto	11:15 - Son las once y quince.

To express half-hour to the hour in Spanish you subtract the minutes from the next hour.

3:55 - Son las cuatro menos cinco.	10:42 - Son las once menos dieciocho.
It is four minus five.	It is eleven minus eighteen.

12:50 - Es la una menos diez.
It is one minus ten.

Ask what time an event takes place use the phrase ¿A qué hora ... ? (At what time...). In Spanish to answer the question when something is taking place you will use the construction a la(s) + time.

¿A qué hora es la fiesta ?	La fiesta son las cuatro.
At what time is the party?	The party is at four o'clock.

¿A qué hora es la classe ?	Es la una.
At what time is the class?	At one o'clock.

Phrases associated with telling time in Spanish

en punto	de la mañana
on the dot/sharp	in the morning

el mediodía	de la tarde
noon	in the afternoon

la medianoche	de la noche
midnight	at night

Nouns and articles Subject pronouns The Verb Ser Pronunciation of Alphabet

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