Telling the Time in Spanish
Spanish counts the hours as plural, which is why the verb changes at one o'clock. Everything else follows one pattern.
Asking and answering
-
¿Qué hora es?
keh OH-rah ehs
-
What time is it?
-
Es la una
ehs lah OO-nah
-
It is one o'clock
The only hour that uses es la
-
Son las dos
sohn lahs dohs
-
It is two o'clock
-
a las ocho
ah lahs OH-choh
-
at eight o'clock
Parts of an hour
-
y cuarto
ee KWAR-toh
-
quarter past
-
y media
ee MEH-dyah
-
half past
-
menos cuarto
MEH-nohs KWAR-toh
-
quarter to
-
Son las tres y diez
sohn lahs trehs ee DYEHS
-
It is ten past three
-
Son las seis menos veinte
sohn lahs sayss MEH-nohs BAYN-teh
-
It is twenty to six
Parts of the day
-
la mañana
lah mah-NYAH-nah
-
the morning
The same word also means tomorrow
-
la tarde
lah TAR-deh
-
the afternoon and early evening
-
la noche
lah NOH-cheh
-
the night
-
el mediodía
el meh-dyoh-DEE-ah
-
midday
-
la medianoche
lah meh-dyah-NOH-cheh
-
midnight
-
de la mañana
deh lah mah-NYAH-nah
-
in the morning, am
Son las nueve de la mañana
Es la una, son las dos, and the Spanish clock
The verb agrees with the hour. One is singular, so es la una. Every other hour is plural, so son las dos, son las tres.
Spanish has no am and pm. Add de la mañana, de la tarde or de la noche instead. La tarde runs until dark, which in summer can be nine in the evening.
Timetables and official notices use the 24-hour clock: las 20:30. Spoken, people still say las ocho y media.
Dates are written day first and read with de: 3/5/2026 is el 3 de mayo de 2026.
- Son las siete y media.It is half past seven.
- La reunión es a las cuatro de la tarde.The meeting is at four in the afternoon.
Keep learning Spanish in Vocabloot
Snap anything and learn the Spanish word for it, with pronunciation and an example sentence.
Coming soon to
the App Store
Coming soon to
Google Play
Free during early access. We only use your email to send your invite.