Telling Time

Telling time in Spanish is straightforward: It’s 2:00.--Son las dos. It’s 3:00.--Son las tres. It’s 4:00.--Son las cuatro. It’s 5:00--Son las cinco.

Get the answer in your head (or on paper) before clicking for it: It’s 6:00.? Son las seis. It’s 8:00. ? Son las ocho. It’s 11:00. ? Son las once.

You know how we say, “It’s 10 after 2:00,” “It’s 20 after 4:00,” etc.? In Spanish, you say, It’s 2:00 and 10. (2:10) --Son las dos y diez. It’s 4:00 and 20. (4:20) -- Son las cuatro y veinte. It’s 6:00 and a quarter (15). (6:15) Son las seis y cuarto. It’s 8:00 and a half. (8:30) --Son las ocho y media. Note that what’s pink in English is equivalent to what’s pink in Spanish, what’s yellow in English is equivalent to what’s yellow in Spanish, etc.

Click here to go to a brief practice exercise. When you’re finished, hit “back” on your toolbar.here

We say “after” only until we get to 30. We wouldn’t say, “It’s 40 after 3:00.” Instead, we’d say, “It’s 20 till 4:00.” You can’t say anything higher than 30. So once you reach 30, you kind of start counting backwards. You say, “It’s 4:00 minus 20.” (The equivalent of 20 till 4:00.) It’s 4:00 minus 20. (3:40)--Son las cuatro menos veinte. It’s 7:00 minus 5. (6:55)—Son las siete menos cinco. It’s 10:00 minus 25. (9:35)—Son las diez menos veinte y cinco. It’s 12:00 minus a quarter. (11:45)—Son las doce menos cuarto. Note that what’s pink in English is equivalent to what’s pink in Spanish, what’s yellow in English is equivalent to what’s yellow in Spanish, etc.

Click here to go to a brief practice exercise. When you’re finished, hit “back” on your toolbar.here

You may have noticed that none of the times mentioned so far have been 1:00, 1:10, etc. That’s because you have to say, “It’s 1:00,” a little differently from how you say, “It’s 2:00,” “It’s 3:00,” etc.: It’s 1:00.-- Es la (NOT son las) una. It’s 1:10.-- Es la (NOT son las) una y diez. It’s 1:30.-- Es la (NOT son las) una y media. It’s 12:50. (1:00 minus 10) -- Es la una menos diez. It’s 12:35. (1:00 minus 25) -- Es la una menos veinte y cinco. Any time you have to say, “Una,” then “Es la,” not “Son las,” must precede it.

Note that media is the word for “half” (as in “half past). Son las tres y media. – It’s half past 3:00. (3:30) The word cuarto means “quarter.” Don’t confuse it with “cuatro.” Remember that both “cuarto” and “quarter” have uart in them.

Now click here to go to your homework.here