Time Flashcards
Times between 1:00 and 1:59
To ask the time, you can use: ¿Qué hora es? / What time is it?. To answer this question, use es la with times between 1:00 and 1:59. Use the sin-form es here, because 1:00 is considered singular.
It is 1:00.
Es la una.
It is 1:10.
Es la una y diez.
Times not between 1:00 & 1:59
For all other times, use son Ias. Use the plural form son here, because the hours 2:00 to 12:00 are considered plural.
It’s 5:00.
Son las cinco.
It’s 8:30.
Son las ocho y media.
Midnight & Noon
For the expressions medianoche (midnight) and mediodía (noon), use es and es el, respectively.
It’s midnight.
Es medianoche.
It’s noon.
Es el mediodía.
When will it happen?
To ask at what time something will happen, use ¿A qué hora… ? (At what time ?). For the expressions medianoche (midnight) and mediodía (noon), use a and al, respectively.
At what time (When) are you going to the gym?
¿A qué hora vas al gimnasio?
At 1:00.
A la una.
At 3.00.
A las tres.
At midnight.
A medianoche.
At noon.
Al mediodía.
Expressing Time
There are several ways to express the time. You can always use the hour followed by y plus the minutes. You can also use media for thirty and cuarto for quarter/ fifteen. When naming specific minutes (25, 40, 33, etc.), Spanish speakers often drop the y. To express times after half past the hour, you can use the word menos (minus) in place of y. Just remember to refer to the hour after the hour you want to speak about and then subtract the minutes. As you may have noticed, the same time can be said in different ways. 3:50 can be las cuatro menos diez (literally: four minus ten) or las tres (y) cincuenta (liter-ally: three fifty).
1:30
la una y media
2:15
las dos y cuarto
7:25
las siete y veinticinco
8:40
las ocho cuarenta
7:40 (Literally: eight minus twenty)
las ocho menos veinte
12:45 (Literally: one minus a quarter)
la una menos cuarto
Time of day
To describe the time of day, use de la mañana (in the morning), de la tarde (in the afternoon), and de la noche (at night). In most Spanish-speaking countries, morning ends at noon. The distinction between afternoon and evening may depend on where you are.
The store opens at seven in the morning.
La tienda abre a las siete de la mañana.
They start work at two in the afternoon.
Empiezan a trabajar a las dos de la tarde.
We’re going at eight at night.
Vamos a las ocho de la noche.
last night
anoche
yesterday
ayer
this morning
esta mañana
