Telling the Time in Portuguese
Portuguese counts the hours as plural, so the verb changes at one o'clock. The word for half is also the word Brazilians use for the number six.
Asking and answering
-
Que horas são?
kee OH-rahs sowng
-
What time is it?
-
É uma hora
eh OO-mah OH-rah
-
It is one o'clock
The only hour that is singular
-
São duas horas
sowng DOO-ahs OH-rahs
-
It is two o'clock
-
às oito
ahs OY-too
-
at eight o'clock
Parts of an hour
-
e quinze
ee KEEN-zee
-
quarter past
-
e meia
ee MAY-ah
-
half past
-
quinze para as quatro
KEEN-zee PAH-rah ahs KWAH-troo
-
quarter to four
-
São três e dez
sowng trehs ee dehs
-
It is ten past three
Parts of the day
-
a manhã
ah mah-NYANG
-
the morning
-
a tarde
ah TAR-jee
-
the afternoon
-
a noite
ah NOY-chee
-
the night, the evening
-
meio-dia
MAY-oo JEE-ah
-
midday
-
meia-noite
MAY-ah NOY-chee
-
midnight
-
da manhã
dah mah-NYANG
-
in the morning, am
São nove da manhã
É uma, são duas, and the meia trap
The verb agrees with the hour. One is singular, so é uma hora. Every other hour is plural, so são duas, são três.
Meio-dia and meia-noite are singular too: é meio-dia.
Meia means half, as in duas e meia, half past two. But Brazilians also say meia for the number six when reading digits aloud, from meia dúzia, half a dozen. On the phone, meia-três-meia is 636.
Portuguese has no am and pm. Add da manhã, da tarde or da noite.
Dates run day first and take de: 3/5/2026 is 3 de maio de 2026.
- São sete e meia.It is half past seven.
- O trem sai às dezesseis e vinte.The train leaves at 4:20pm.
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