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# How to Tell the Time in Spanish: Hours, Minutes and Everyday Schedules
- URL: https://www.espanamania.es/gramma/telling-time-spanish/
- Published: 2026-10-28T13:53:41.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-28T13:53:41.000Z
- Author: Alexander
- Tags: GRAMMA, A

## Quick answer: three patterns to remember

- **¿Qué hora es?** — What time is it?
- **Es la una. / Son las cuatro.** — It is one o'clock. / It is four o'clock.
- **A la una. / A las cuatro.** — At one o'clock. / At four o'clock.

The first two answers tell us **what time it is now**. The expressions with **a** tell us **when something happens**. That small change matters as much as the numbers.

## 1\. How to ask the time

The all-purpose question is **¿Qué hora es?** It works in formal and informal situations. In everyday Spain Spanish, you will also hear **¿Tienes hora?**, literally “Do you have the time?”

- **Perdona, ¿tienes hora?** — Excuse me, do you have the time? (informal)
- **Disculpe, ¿tiene hora?** — Excuse me, do you have the time? (formal)
- **¿Me puedes decir qué hora es, por favor?** — Could you tell me what time it is, please?

**In context:** **—Perdona, ¿tienes hora? —Sí, son las cinco y diez.** — “Excuse me, do you have the time?” “Yes, it's ten past five.”

## 2\. Why Spanish says es la una but son las dos

For **one o'clock**, use the singular form of **ser** and the singular article: **es la una**. For the other clock hours, use the plural: **son las dos**, **son las once**, **son las doce**. The feminine article agrees with the understood word **hora**; **una** is feminine here.

| Clock | Natural Spanish | English              |
| ----- | --------------- | -------------------- |
| 1:00  | Es la una.      | It's one o'clock.    |
| 2:00  | Son las dos.    | It's two o'clock.    |
| 8:00  | Son las ocho.   | It's eight o'clock.  |
| 12:00 | Son las doce.   | It's twelve o'clock. |

Add **en punto** when you want to stress an exact hour: **Son las nueve en punto** — “It's exactly nine.”

**Noon and midnight** have their own expressions: **Es mediodía** (“It's noon”) and **Es medianoche** (“It's midnight”). **Son las doce** is possible when context already makes clear which twelve you mean.

## 3\. Minutes: y, cuarto, media and menos

For the first half of the hour, add the minutes with **y**. At fifteen minutes, Spanish commonly says **y cuarto**; at thirty minutes, **y media**.

- **Son las siete y cinco.** — It's 7:05.
- **Es la una y veinte.** — It's 1:20.
- **Son las diez y cuarto.** — It's 10:15 (quarter past ten).
- **Son las cuatro y media.** — It's 4:30 (half past four).

After the half-hour, a particularly natural way of telling time in Spain is to look ahead to the **next hour** and subtract the minutes still to go with **menos**. For example, 6:50 is ten minutes before seven, so it is **son las siete menos diez**. This is a common convention rather than a ban on reading digital minutes directly.

| Clock | Common spoken form in Spain  | Literal idea     |
| ----- | ---------------------------- | ---------------- |
| 3:40  | Son las cuatro menos veinte. | Twenty to four   |
| 6:45  | Son las siete menos cuarto.  | Quarter to seven |
| 8:50  | Son las nueve menos diez.    | Ten to nine      |
| 12:55 | Es la una menos cinco.       | Five to one      |

**Notice the singular at the change of hour:** at 12:55 you are counting down to **one**, so it is **es la una menos cinco**, even though the digital clock still displays twelve.

Another option is to read the display more directly, especially for precise appointments: **Son las seis y cuarenta y cinco** (6:45). In Spain, **son las siete menos cuarto** often sounds more conversational. Some varieties of Latin American Spanish also use forms such as **un cuarto para las siete**; the preferred phrasing varies by region and speaker.

## 4\. De la mañana, de la tarde, de la noche

A clock time by itself does not always tell you whether it is morning or evening. In ordinary conversation, Spanish often adds a part of the day rather than saying “a.m.” or “p.m.”

- **de la mañana** — in the morning: **Son las ocho de la mañana.** — It's 8 a.m.
- **de la tarde** — in the afternoon or early evening: **Son las cinco de la tarde.** — It's 5 p.m.
- **de la noche** — at night: **Son las diez de la noche.** — It's 10 p.m.
- **de la madrugada** — in the hours after midnight, before morning: **Son las tres de la madrugada.** — It's 3 a.m.

These labels do **not** have universal, fixed cut-off times; ordinary usage depends on daylight, the situation and local habits.

### An exact hour versus a general period

Use **de la** with a specific clock time, but often **por la** with a broad time period:

- **La tienda abre a las nueve de la mañana.** — The shop opens at nine in the morning.
- **Trabajo por la mañana.** — I work in the morning.
- **Cenamos a las nueve de la noche.** — We have dinner at nine in the evening.
- **Por la noche suelo leer.** — I usually read at night.

## 5\. What time is an event? Use a la / a las

**¿Qué hora es?** asks for the time right now. **¿A qué hora...?** asks when an activity or event takes place. In the answer, **a** introduces the time:

- **¿A qué hora empieza la película?** — What time does the film start?
- **Empieza a las siete y media.** — It starts at 7:30.
- **La visita es a la una.** — The visit is at one o'clock.
- **¿A qué hora quedamos?** — What time shall we meet?
- **Quedamos a las seis menos cuarto.** — Let's meet at 5:45.

Compare these two ideas:

- **Son las ocho.** — It is eight o'clock. (The time now.)
- **El autobús sale a las ocho.** — The bus leaves at eight o'clock. (The time of an event.)

For ranges, use **de... a...** or **desde... hasta...**:

- **La biblioteca abre de nueve a dos.** — The library opens from nine until two.
- **La recepción está abierta desde las ocho hasta las seis.** — Reception is open from eight until six.

## 6\. Timetables, the 24-hour clock and everyday life

In Spain, train timetables, booking confirmations and official schedules usually show the **24-hour clock**. Everyday conversation often uses twelve-hour phrasing and context. You can understand both without treating them as completely different systems.

| Written time | In everyday conversation               | English        |
| ------------ | -------------------------------------- | -------------- |
| 14:15        | Son las dos y cuarto de la tarde.      | It's 2:15 p.m. |
| 18:30        | Son las seis y media de la tarde.      | It's 6:30 p.m. |
| 21:45        | Son las diez menos cuarto de la noche. | It's 9:45 p.m. |
| 00:00        | Es medianoche.                         | It's midnight. |

In a formal announcement you might also hear numbers read directly: **El tren sale a las dieciocho treinta** (18:30). In a casual conversation, **sale a las seis y media** is more likely when the context is clear.

### A short day in Spanish

**Los lunes me levanto a las siete y cuarto. Desayuno a las ocho y voy al trabajo. A mediodía como con mis compañeros. Por la tarde vuelvo a casa. Normalmente ceno a las nueve y media.**

*On Mondays I get up at 7:15\. I have breakfast at eight and go to work. At noon I eat with my colleagues. In the afternoon I go home. I usually have dinner at 9:30.*

The story uses three complementary tools: **a las** for precise moments, **a mediodía** for noon, and **por la tarde** for a general part of the day.

## 7\. Common mistakes and how to fix them

- **Not:** *Son la una.* **Say:** **Es la una.** The one-o'clock pattern is singular.
- **Not:** *Es las cinco.* **Say:** **Son las cinco.** Other hours use the plural.
- **Not:** *El concierto empieza son las nueve.* **Say:** **El concierto empieza a las nueve.** Events take **a**.
- **Not:** *Son las seis menos cuarto* for 6:45\. **Say:** **Son las siete menos cuarto.** With **menos**, count back from the next hour.
- **Not:** *Trabajo de la mañana* when you mean “in the morning” generally. **Say:** **Trabajo por la mañana.**

## 8\. Quick speaking practice

Say these aloud before checking the suggested answers:

1. Ask a friend what time it is.
2. Tell someone it is 1:15.
3. Say it is 5:45 using **menos**.
4. Ask what time the museum opens.
5. Say that you study in the evenings, without mentioning a particular hour.

**Suggested answers:** **¿Tienes hora?** · **Es la una y cuarto.** · **Son las seis menos cuarto.** · **¿A qué hora abre el museo?** · **Estudio por la tarde.** (or **por la noche**, if you mean later at night).

## Remember

To **tell the time**, start with **es la una / son las...**. To say **when something happens**, use **a la una / a las...**. For a time up to half past, you can add minutes with **y**; after half past, Spain Spanish often counts down to the next hour with **menos**. A clear time expression can be short, natural and precise.

For the verb behind **es** and **son**, see [SER in Spanish: Present Tense and Essential Uses](https://www.espanamania.es/gramma/ser-present-tense-spanish/).