La gramatica- grammar Telling time in Spanish In Spanish, to ask the time, you would say: ‘¿Qué hora es?’. Note that the ‘hour’ (la hora) in Spanish is grammatically feminine. If the time is anything between 1:00 and 1:59, you could respond with: “Es la una y…the number of minutes past the hour” For example: 1 :00 = Es la una 1: 10 = Es la una y diez. 1 :25 = Es la una y veinticinco. 1 :40 = Es la una y cuarenta. Expressing any hour past one o’clock begins with “Son las…” For example: 2:00 = Son las dos. 5:00 = Son las cinco. 8:00= Son las ocho. To express minutes after the hour, simply add ‘y’ and then the number of minutes after the hour. For example: 3:18 = Son las tres y dieciocho. 6:20 = Son las seis y veinte. 10 : 08 = Son las diez y ocho. To express minutes before the next hour, you can use ‘menos’ and the number of minutes to the next hour. For example: 10:50 = Son las once menos diez. 7 :55 = Son las ocho menos diez. To express a quarter hour, you can use the word ‘cuarto’. You can also use the number ‘quince’. For example: 3:15= Son las tres y cuarto. = Son las tres y quince 6:45= Son las siete menos cuarto = Son las siete menos quince. To express a half hour, you can use the word ‘media’. You can also use the number ‘treinta’. For example: 5:30= Son las cinco y media. = Son las cinco y treinta. 1 :30= Es la una y media. = Es la una y treinta. Special expressions of time If the time is exact (sharp/ on the dot), you can use the expression ‘en punto’. For example: It’s 1: 20- sharp. = Es la una y veinte en punto. If it is approximately a certain time, you can use the expression ‘más o menos’. For example: It’s approximately 4:15. = Son las cuatro y cuarto más o menos. If it is midnight, you can say ‘medianoche’. If it is noon, you can say ‘mediodía’. For AM and PM, you can use the following: de la mañana= from midnight until noon de la tarde= from noon until about suppertime de la noche= from nightfall until midnight Note that in many Spanish-speaking countries it is not uncommon for time to be expressed using the 24h clock ( particularly on train schedules, at airports etc. ) . After noon, the time continues as such 1: 00 pm = 13h00, 2:00 = 14h00 etc. To express at what time something occurs, use the preposition ‘a’ For example: ¿A qué hora llega el tren? Llega a las cuatro y media.