How To Tell Time in Spanish

If you want to tell time in Spanish, first you'll need to learn how to count from one to twenty-nine. Telling time in Spanish is a lot like telling time in English, except that you'll be replacing the English words with Spanish ones. The construction of the phrase is very similar to how to tell time in English, which makes it relatively easy for English speakers to learn how to tell time in Spanish. Here's how:

1. Use hours with the verb 'to be.' In Spanish, the easiest way to tell time is to start with the hour, saying literally “it is (the hour).” Use es for singular (1:00) and son for all other hours, from two o'clock through twelve o'clock. For example, “es la una” means that it's one o'clock. “Son las cinco” means that it is five o'clock.
2. Add minutes. The easiest way to describe the minutes past the hour is by separating minutes from hours using 'y,' which is Spanish for 'and.' For example, 'es la una y dos' means that it is two minutes past one o'clock, while 'son las dos y cinco' means that it is 2:05.
3. Indicate half or quarter hours. The half hour is 'media' in Spanish, while the quarter hour is 'cuarto.' So, 'son las dos y media' means that it is 2:30. 'Es la una y cuarto' means that it is fifteen minutes past one o'clock.
4. Use 'menos' for describing times after the half hour. Similar to English, there is a different construction for telling time in Spanish when it is past the half hour, or in other words 30 minutes or more past the hour. In Spanish, use 'menos' to state the number of minutes remaining until the next full hour. For example, 'son las dos menos cinco' means that it is five minutes until 2:00, or 1:55.
5. Say that a specific event is occurring. When you want to say that something occurs at a specific time, rather than explaining what time it is right now, you'll use a + la(s) + the time. For example, 'la fiesta es a las siete' means that the party is at seven.
6. Indicate the time of day. You can follow a specific time with the time of day. Use 'de la mañana' for morning, 'de la tarde' for afternoon, and 'de la noche' for evening or night. You can also use 'medianoche' for 12:00 midnight, or 'mediodia' for 12:00 noon.
7. Learn about 24-hour clocks. In much of the Spanish speaking world, you may find 24-hour clocks in addition to 12-hour clocks, so don't be surprised if the time goes up to 24 o'clock.

When you're learning how to tell time in Spanish, a question you may find useful is “¿Qué hora es?” which is used to ask the time. It literally means “what's the hour?” If you are writing the time in Spanish using numbers, remember to use a period rather than a colon to separate the hours and minutes. For example, 12.30 instead of 12:30.