To tell the time in Spanish, say es la una for one o’clock and son las… for every other hour: son las tres (3:00). Add minutes with y up to half past (y cuarto, y media) and count back from the next hour with menos after that: son las cuatro menos cuarto (3:45).
Asking and giving the time
¿Qué hora es?What time is it?
Es la una.It’s one o’clock.
Son las cinco.It’s five o’clock.
- Es la una, son las dos. The verb is singular only for one o’clock and the minutes around it (es la una y media). Every other hour is plural: son las dos, son las doce.
- The article is compulsory. The hidden word is la hora, which is feminine, so it is always la or las: son las ocho, never “son ocho”.
- There is no word for “o’clock”. Son las ocho is enough. En punto (“on the dot”) is added only to insist on the exact time.
The minutes: y and menos
Spanish works like British English “past” and “to”, except that the hour always comes first. Up to half past, you add minutes with y; after half past, you take them away from the next hour with menos.
| Spanish | Time | Word for word |
|---|---|---|
| Son las tres en punto | 3:00 | three on the dot |
| Son las tres y cinco | 3:05 | three and five |
| Son las tres y diez | 3:10 | three and ten |
| Son las tres y cuarto | 3:15 | three and a quarter |
| Son las tres y veinte | 3:20 | three and twenty |
| Son las tres y veinticinco | 3:25 | three and twenty-five |
| Son las tres y media | 3:30 | three and a half |
| Son las cuatro menos veinticinco | 3:35 | four minus twenty-five |
| Son las cuatro menos veinte | 3:40 | four minus twenty |
| Son las cuatro menos cuarto | 3:45 | four minus a quarter |
| Son las cuatro menos diez | 3:50 | four minus ten |
| Son las cuatro menos cinco | 3:55 | four minus five |
Good news for British pupils: the colloquial “half three” (3:30) works exactly like las tres y media. The trap is the second half of the clock: las tres menos cuarto is 2:45, not 3:45, because menos counts back from the hour that is named.
Morning, afternoon and night
Spanish has no a.m. and p.m. in speech. Instead, you add the part of the day:
- de la mañana: in the morning, until midday
- de la tarde: in the afternoon and early evening; in Spain this runs until about eight or nine o’clock, well after an English “afternoon” has ended
- de la noche: at night
- de la madrugada: in the small hours, roughly from one until dawn
Son las siete de la tarde.It’s seven in the evening.
Me levanto a las siete de la mañana.I get up at seven in the morning.
Midday is el mediodía (Es mediodía, or son las doce del mediodía) and midnight is la medianoche (Es medianoche, or son las doce de la noche). In writing, several Latin American countries also use a. m. and p. m.
At what time?
¿A qué hora empieza la clase?What time does the lesson start?
A las nueve y cuarto.At quarter past nine.
A la una.At one o’clock.
“Around” is a eso de las seis, hacia las seis or, very commonly in Spain, sobre las seis.
The 24-hour clock
Timetables, stations, television and official announcements use the 24-hour clock, and the minutes are then read as plain numbers, with no cuarto, media or menos:
El tren sale a las diecisiete cuarenta y cinco.The train leaves at 17:45.
In writing, the Real Academia Española accepts both a colon and a full stop: 17:45 or 17.45.
Latin American variants
Everything above is understood everywhere. You will also meet:
- Minutes read as numbers in everyday speech: las tres y quince, las tres y cuarenta y cinco, common across Latin America and increasingly in Spain.
- Un cuarto para las cuatro or quince para las cuatro for 3:45, and veinte para las cuatro for 3:40, heard in Mexico, Central America, Colombia and elsewhere.
- ¿Qué horas son?, a common question form in Mexico and parts of Latin America.
A sensible approach: teach one system for pupils to produce, and let them hear the others in listening work.
Typical mistakes of English-speaking learners
- “Es las dos” or “son la una”: the verb must agree with the hour.
- Dropping the article: “son tres” instead of son las tres.
- Menos counted from the wrong hour: “las tres menos cuarto” to mean 3:45.
- “Y medio” or “y mitad”: it is always y media.
- Using tiempo: “¿Qué tiempo es?” is wrong. Tiempo is time as duration or the weather (¿Qué tiempo hace?); a clock time is la hora.
- “A las una”: it is a la una, singular.
- Pronouncing the h of hora: it is always silent.
In class: a time routine
Telling the time needs little and often, more than one long lesson. A one-minute routine at the start of the lesson does the job.
- Show a clock or a digital time on the board.
- Ask ¿Qué hora es? and give the class a few seconds to prepare the answer in pairs.
- The class answers aloud; then reveal the written answer.
- Add a location to bring in geography: Son las diez en Londres. ¿Qué hora es en Madrid? Mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands are one hour ahead of the UK all year round, while the Canary Islands share UK time.
- Let a pupil choose the next time and ask the question.
A world map makes the routine richer: point at a city, the class says what time it is there. Mexico City, Buenos Aires or Bogotá bring in the Spanish-speaking world at the same time as the numbers.
Adapting to your class
- A1Hours only: Son las tres. Es la una.
- A2Quarters and halves: y cuarto, y media, menos cuarto.
- B1Every five minutes, with de la mañana / de la tarde.
- B2The 24-hour clock, time differences between cities, and Latin American variants in listening.
The “La hora” module does it for you
A world map: you click a city, the class says what time it is there, the answer is revealed. The time changes every lesson. No preparation needed: try everything free for 15 days of use.
Frequently asked questions
How do you ask the time in Spanish?
¿Qué hora es? In Mexico and parts of Latin America you will also hear ¿Qué horas son?
Why is it es la una but son las dos?
Because the hidden noun is la hora: one hour is singular (es la una), two or more hours are plural (son las dos).
How do you say quarter to in Spanish?
With menos cuarto, counting back from the next hour: son las cinco menos cuarto is 4:45. In much of Latin America you will also hear un cuarto para las cinco.
How do you say a.m. and p.m. in Spanish?
In speech, add de la mañana, de la tarde or de la noche. In writing, the 24-hour clock is common; several Latin American countries also write a. m. and p. m.
Is it y media or y medio?
Always y media: it agrees with the feminine noun la hora.