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3.7.2: Gramática - ¿Qué hora es?

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    262519

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    Objetivos
    • Identify different time expressions
    • Tell the time

    La hora

    Statue of a melted stopwatch by Salvador Dali

    ¿Cómo decir la hora?

    Time is constructed using the following sentence structure:

    Es la / Son las + (hora) + y / menos + (minutos) + de la mañana
    + de la tarde
    + de la noche

    2:10 a.m. →
    Son las dos y diez de la mañana. (It is two-ten in the morning.)

    The word hora is feminine in Spanish, and that is why we use the article la/las when referring to time.

    Expresiones de la hora

    Note that there are certain times that commonly use fractions of an hour instead of minutes, and certain hours have special names.

    5:00 → Son las cinco en punto. (It’s five o’clock sharp / on the dot.)
    3:15 → Son las tres y cuarto. (It’s a quarter past three. – i.e. three-fifteen.)
    4:30 → Son las cuatro y media. (It’s half past four. – i.e. four-thirty.)
    1:40 → Son las dos menos veinte.*(It’s twenty to/of two. – i.e. one-forty.)
    6:50 → Son las siete menos diez.* (It’s seven minus ten.)
    1:00 → Es la una.** (It’s one o’clock.)
    12:00 am → Es medianoche / Es la medianoche. (It’s midnight.)
    12:00 pm → Es mediodía / Es el mediodía. (It’s noon / midday.)

    * Note that once the time passes the 30-minute mark, we generally go up to the next hour and subtract the number of minutes before that hour.

    ** Son means “they are”, so son las… only works for numbers greater than one. To say “it’s one o’clock”, you have to say Es la una. (or Es la una en punto.).

    Resumen de la hora

    To summarize, when you are telling time remember the following

    1. When telling time up to the half hour, we generally add or indicate the minutes. Below are examples of these expressions.
      • Es la una y cuarto. (It’s quarter past one.)
      • Es la una y media. (It’s half past one.)
      • Son las doce y cuarto. (It’s quarter past 12.)
      • Son las tres y media. (It’s half past three.)
    2. When the time is past the half hour, we generally subtract the minutes to the next hour. Below are examples of these expressions.
    • Es la una menos diez. (It’s ten until one. / 12:50)
    • Es la una menos cuarto. ( It’s a quarter until one. / 12:45).
    • Son las tres menos veinticinco. (It’s twenty-five until three. / 2:35).
    • Son las tres menos veinte. (It’s twenty until three. / 2:40).

    Below is an image that summarizes these key points on telling time in Spanish.

    An analog clock with text showing different Spanish time expressions and their English meanings.

    Image by Karen Le Cornet

    La hora de eventos

    The question ¿Qué hora es? is used when we want to find out what time it is right now. However, if we want to know at what time something occurs, the question is ¿A qué hora es…? (At what time is… / When is ..?).

    Tomás: Cristóbal, ¿a qué hora es tu clase de español?
    Cristóbal: Mi clase de español es a la una y cuarto de la tarde. ¿A qué hora es tu clase de biología?
    Tomás: Mi clase de biología es a las ocho y media de la mañana.

    Handmade sign reads Hoy a partir de las 19:00 h. Vigilia en la facultad de Biologia
    ¿Qué hora es 19:00h?

    Many digital clocks and printed schedules in Spanish-speaking countries use a 24-hour time format to avoid the need for “AM” or “PM”:

    English:   Spanish:
    9:30 AM

    9:30 PM

    		 → 09:30

    21:30

    noun_practice_1876344.png Practicar

    Type the time shown on the clock (or the digital readout) at the link below. Then press “submit.” You can do this as many times as you want to practice telling time.
    Modelo:
    4:15
    Son las cuatro y cuarto.
    12:50
    Es la una menos diez.
    Son diez para la una.

    https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/course-building/Spanish/clock/clock.html

    Contributors and Attributions

    CC licensed content, Shared previously
    • Gramu00e1tica: u00bfQuu00e9 hora es?. Authored by: SUNY Oneonta with Lumen Learning. Provided by: SUNY Oneonta. License: CC BY: Attribution
    • Resumen de la hora. Authored by: Karen Le Cornet. Provided by: LibreTexts. License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

    3.7.2: Gramática - ¿Qué hora es? is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.