Telling Time in Spanish – Complete Guide

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¡Hola! Today we're learning how to tell time in Spanish — ¿Qué hora es? This is super practical — you'll use it for appointments, schedules, catching a bus, meeting friends. I've put the key time phrases on the whiteboard. The system is a bit different from English, so let's break it down together!

🕐 Telling Time in Spanish

Learn how to ask and tell time in Spanish — hours, minutes, and time expressions

How to Ask and Say the Time

To ask "What time is it?" say ¿Qué hora es? To answer, use Es la... for 1 o'clock and Son las... for all other hours. Examples: Es la una (It's 1 o'clock), Son las dos (It's 2 o'clock), Son las tres y media (It's 3:30), Son las cinco y cuarto (It's 5:15). The key structure is: Son las [hour] y [minutes].

Telling Time – Common Expressions

English	Spanish
It's 1:00	Es la una.
It's 3:00	Son las tres.
It's 4:15	Son las cuatro y cuarto.
It's 7:30	Son las siete y media.
It's 5:45 (a quarter to 6)	Son las seis menos cuarto.
It's 2:50 (ten to 3)	Son las tres menos diez.
It's noon	Es mediodía.
It's midnight	Es medianoche.

AM and PM in Spanish

Spanish doesn't use AM/PM. Instead, time of day is specified with: de la mañana (in the morning — before noon), de la tarde (in the afternoon — noon to ~8pm), de la noche (at night — after ~8pm). Examples: Son las ocho de la mañana (It's 8 AM), Son las tres de la tarde (It's 3 PM), Son las diez de la noche (It's 10 PM). For schedules and transport, 24-hour time is also widely used.

Useful Time Phrases

Spanish	English
¿A qué hora...?	At what time...?
A las ocho.	At eight o'clock.
en punto	exactly / on the dot (Son las dos en punto)
más o menos	more or less / approximately
temprano / tarde	early / late
ahora / ahora mismo	now / right now

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