How to Tell Time in Spanish
Understand how to use the verb "ser" when telling time., Tell the time using whole hours., Learn how to indicate if it's midnight or noon., Tell the time using hours and minutes.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Understand how to use the verb "ser" when telling time.
Ser is a verb that means "to be" and it's the only verb you'll need to tell the time.
The two forms of ser are the plural form, son las ("they are") and the singular form, es la ("it is").
Only use es la when the hour is one o' clock.
Use son las for all other times of day.
For example:
Son las dos.
It's two o'clock.
Es la una.
It's one o'clock. -
Step 2: Tell the time using whole hours.
Before telling the time fully, you should learn how to tell the time just using hours.
Simply say es la una to indicate that it's one o'clock, and use son las followed the number associated with any hour other than one to say the time.
Here are some examples:
Son las cuatro.
It's four o'clock.
Son las cinco.
It's five o'clock.
Son las seis.
It's six o'clock.
Son las siete.
It's seven o'clock.
Son las once.
It's eleven o'clock. , Midnight and noon are whole hours, but you should say that it's midnight or noon using a slightly different method.
Here's how to do it:
Es mediodÃa.
It's noon.
Es medianoche.
It's midnight. , Telling the time in Spanish using minutes and hours is a bit trickier than in English.
To tell the time in Spanish, you'll never need to use a number higher than
29.
Here are the two methods you need to know:
To tell the time in the first half hour, simply state the correct form of ser followed by the hour, followed by y ("and") and the number of minutes.
Here are some examples:
Son las siete y seis.
It's 7:06.
Son las diez y veinte.
It's 10:20.
Son las once y diez.
It's 11:10.
Just remember one exception: if you're indicating that it's the half hour, then don't say treinta ("thirty") but say media ("half") instead.
For example:
Son las dos y media.
It's 2:30.
To tell the time in the second half hour, you'll have to first state the correct form of ser followed by the next hour, followed by menos (minus) and the amount of minutes remaining until the following hour.
Here are some examples:
Son las nueve menos cinco.
It's 8:55.
Son las once menos veinte.
It's 10:40.
Es la una menos veinticinco.
It's 12:35.
Son las tres menos cuarto.
It's 2:45.
Note that you should say cuarto ("a quarter") instead of quince ("fifteen"). -
Step 3: Learn how to indicate if it's midnight or noon.
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Step 4: Tell the time using hours and minutes.
Detailed Guide
Ser is a verb that means "to be" and it's the only verb you'll need to tell the time.
The two forms of ser are the plural form, son las ("they are") and the singular form, es la ("it is").
Only use es la when the hour is one o' clock.
Use son las for all other times of day.
For example:
Son las dos.
It's two o'clock.
Es la una.
It's one o'clock.
Before telling the time fully, you should learn how to tell the time just using hours.
Simply say es la una to indicate that it's one o'clock, and use son las followed the number associated with any hour other than one to say the time.
Here are some examples:
Son las cuatro.
It's four o'clock.
Son las cinco.
It's five o'clock.
Son las seis.
It's six o'clock.
Son las siete.
It's seven o'clock.
Son las once.
It's eleven o'clock. , Midnight and noon are whole hours, but you should say that it's midnight or noon using a slightly different method.
Here's how to do it:
Es mediodÃa.
It's noon.
Es medianoche.
It's midnight. , Telling the time in Spanish using minutes and hours is a bit trickier than in English.
To tell the time in Spanish, you'll never need to use a number higher than
29.
Here are the two methods you need to know:
To tell the time in the first half hour, simply state the correct form of ser followed by the hour, followed by y ("and") and the number of minutes.
Here are some examples:
Son las siete y seis.
It's 7:06.
Son las diez y veinte.
It's 10:20.
Son las once y diez.
It's 11:10.
Just remember one exception: if you're indicating that it's the half hour, then don't say treinta ("thirty") but say media ("half") instead.
For example:
Son las dos y media.
It's 2:30.
To tell the time in the second half hour, you'll have to first state the correct form of ser followed by the next hour, followed by menos (minus) and the amount of minutes remaining until the following hour.
Here are some examples:
Son las nueve menos cinco.
It's 8:55.
Son las once menos veinte.
It's 10:40.
Es la una menos veinticinco.
It's 12:35.
Son las tres menos cuarto.
It's 2:45.
Note that you should say cuarto ("a quarter") instead of quince ("fifteen").
About the Author
Robert Hall
Brings years of experience writing about home improvement and related subjects.
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