Spanish time vocabulary: the clock, the day, the week and the year
¿Qué hora es? · drag to set the time
Son las cuatro y veinte de la tarde.
Sonarelasthecuatrofouryandveintetwentyde la tardein the afternoon / evening
son lahs KWAH-troh ee BAYN-teh deh lah TAR-deh · “It’s twenty past four in the afternoon / evening.”Why:Every hour except one is plural: son las. Up to the half hour, y adds the minutes. On a timetable this is 16:20.
Short answer: ask ¿Qué hora es? and answer son las + hour (son las tres), except for one o’clock: es la una. Add minutes with y up to the half hour, then count back from the next hour with menos. Days and months take a small letter, and dates use plain numbers: el 5 de mayo.
The minutes
Y for past, menos for to
La and las stand for la hora (the hour), which is feminine, so it is la una, never el uno. Spanish uses words for the quarter and half hour: cuarto and media.
Past the hour · y
To the next hour · menos
¿Quéwhathorahoures?is
keh OH-rah es · “What time is it?”Why:Hora means both “hour” and “the time on the clock”.
La clasethe classempiezastartsaatlasthenueve.nine
lah KLAH-seh em-PYEH-thah ah lahs NWEH-beh · “The class starts at nine.”Why:“At” a time is a: a las nueve, a la una.
Parts of the day
A Spanish day runs late
Spanish has no “am” and “pm”: you add the part of the day, de la mañana or de la tarde. In Spain la mañana lasts until lunch at about two, and la tarde until dinner at about nine. Timetables use the 24-hour clock: a las 20:00 is a las veinte horas.
One day from midnight to midnight, drawn to scale. Tap a band or a meal to hear it. La madrugada is the small hours, after midnight and before dawn.
Days
The week starts on lunes
Days are written with a small letter and are all masculine. El lunes means “on Monday” (this one), los lunes means “on Mondays” (every week): no word for “on” is needed.
ElthelunesMondaytengoI-haveclase.class
el LOO-nes TEN-goh KLAH-seh · “On Monday I have a class.”Why:El lunes = this coming Monday, one time.
LosthesábadosSaturdaysnonottrabajo.I-work
lohs SAH-bah-dohs noh trah-BAH-hoh · “I don’t work on Saturdays.”Why:Los sábados = every Saturday. Days ending in -s stay the same in the plural: los lunes.
The year
Months and dates
Months also take a small letter. A date is el + number + de + month, said with ordinary numbers, not “fifth”: el cinco de mayo. For the first of the month Spain says el uno; much of Latin America says el primero.
elthe
12doce · twelve
deof
octubreOctober
“the 12 of October”: el doce de octubre (el DOH-theh deh ok-TOO-breh). Ordinary numbers are in Spanish numbers.
Time words
Yesterday, today, tomorrow and how often
Two scales cover most time words: when something happens, and how often. Note that mañana means both “tomorrow” and “morning”: mañana por la mañana is “tomorrow morning”.
When · past ← now → future
How often · never → always
YaalreadyheI-havecomido.eaten
yah eh koh-MEE-doh · “I’ve already eaten.”Why:Ya = already. Spain uses the present perfect (he comido) for things done today.
Todavíastillnonothahasllegado.arrived
toh-dah-BEE-ah noh ah yeh-GAH-doh · “He hasn’t arrived yet.”Why:Todavía no = not yet.
Haceit-makesdostwodías.days
AH-theh dohs DEE-ahs · “Two days ago.”Why:Hace + a length of time = “ago”.