How do you tell the exact time in Spanish

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you needed to tell the time in Spanish? Perhaps you needed to arrange for an airport taxi to pick you up, or perhaps you met some friends on your trip and wanted to make some plans.

It is not difficult to learn how to tell time in Spanish. You will have no trouble getting the hang of it if you know how to count in Spanish and a few question words in Spanish.

Telling the time in Spanish is an essential skill that will make your conversations much easier!

Learn how to tell the time in Spanish

People no longer need to ask strangers on the street for the time. However, there are numerous reasons why we should be able to tell the time in Spanish. For example:

• You would like to invite someone to a party, a date, or a business meeting.
• You want to inquire about a company’s operating hours.
• You must make travel plans with your Airbnb host.
• Someone calls to reschedule, and you must choose a new time.

The first word you’ll want to learn is hora (pronounced ora — don’t forget the h is silent in Spanish), which translates to ‘hour’. When asking what time it is in Spanish, you will use hora rather than tiempo (time).

If this sounds confusing, remember that when you ask for the time, you ask for the hour (and minutes!). Consider asking them to check their clock to see what time it is! The minute part is automatically included in the hora, so it is unnecessary to request it separately.

Here is how to ask what time it is in Spanish:

English	Spanish
Time	Tiempo
What’s the time?	¿Qué hora es?
Do you have the time?	¿Tienes la hora?
Do you know what time it is?	¿Sabes qué hora es?

To become fluent in Spanish, you must also learn to tell time on the hour. There is no mention of minutes in Spanish, but people are expected to give time in an hour-and-minute format. But what if no minutes are available? Here’s what you need to say:

How to tell time on the hour?

English	Spanish
It’s one o’clock	Es la una en punto
It’s two o’clock	Son las dos en punto
It’s three o’clock	Son las tres en punto
It’s four o’clock	Son las cuatro en punto
It’s five o’clock	Son las cinco en punto
It’s six o’clock	Son las seis en punto
It’s seven o’clock	Son las siete en punto
It’s eight o’clock	Son las ocho en punto
It’s nine o’clock	Son las nueve en punto
It’s ten o’clock	Son las diez en punto
It’s eleven o’clock	Son las once en punto
It’s twelve o’clock	Son las doce en punto

How to say half past, quarter past, and quarter to?

When discussing the time, we don’t need to get too specific. In English, we say “it’s a quarter past three” rather than “it’s three fifteen.” The same can be said for Spanish. Let’s look at some examples.

English	Spanish	Example Sentence
It’s half past	Y media	Son las tres y media
It’s quarter past	Y cuarto	Son las doce y cuarto
It’s quarter to	Cuarto para	Es cuarto para la una

If you want to learn Spanish easily, it is important to focus on developing speaking skills. Practice as much as you can. Don’t fear to make mistakes. Try telling the time in Spanish every time someone asks you.

How do you say the time of day in Spanish?

English	Spanish	Example Sentence
Morning	Mañana	Son las 10 de la mañana
Afternoon	Tarde	Son las 4 de la tarde
Evening	Tarde	Son las 7 de la tarde
Night	Noche	Son las 11 de la noche
Midday / noon	Mediodía	Nos vemos mañana al mediodía
Midnight	Medianoche	Su vuelo aterriza a la medianoche
Dusk	Anochecer	Llega antes del anochecer
Dawn	Amanecer	Desperté antes del amanecer
Bedtime	Hora de dormir	Es la hora de dormir
Lunchtime	Hora de comer	Es la hora de comer
Dinnertime	Hora de cenar	Es la hora de cenar
Naptime	Hora de la siesta	Es la hora de la siesta
Around X time	Como a las…	Nos vemos como a las 8

How to tell exact minutes in Spanish?

Asking for the exact time is similar to asking for the time in English: simply include the words “exact” or “exactly” when you ask for the time. It is also similar to telling the exact minutes. First, say the hour as usual, then add the number for minutes immediately after the number for hours. Just like in English, you’d say “it is two twenty-five” to say it is 2:25, in Spanish, you’d say “son las dos veinticinco.”

English	Spanish
What time is it exactly?	¿Qué hora es exactamente?
Do you have the exact time?	¿Tienes la hora exacta?
It’s 7:08	Son las siete cero ocho
It’s 1:25	Es la una veinticinco

Other time-related phrases in Spanish

English	Spanish	In a Sentence/Example
Day	Día	¿Qué día nos vemos?
Week	Semana	La próxima semana.
Month	Mes	En un mes me voy a México.
Year	Año	En un año cumplo 18.
Yesterday	Ayer	Ayer me enfermé.
Today	Hoy	¡Hoy es viernes!
Tomorrow	Mañana	Mañana no trabajo.
Monday	Lunes	El lunes tengo trabajo.
Tuesday	Martes	El martes es día feriado.
Wednesday	Miércoles	El miércoles es mi cumpleaños.
Thursday	Jueves	¿Quieres ir a cenar conmigo el jueves?
Friday	Viernes	¡Ya es viernes!
Saturday	Sábado	El sábado voy a ir al museo.
Sunday	Domingo	El domingo es mi día de descanso.
Last Year	El año pasado	El año pasado fui a Argentina.
This Year	Este año	Este año quiero ir a Chile.
Next Year	El próximo año	El próximo año me gradúo.
Next Time	La próxima vez	La próxima vez yo te invito.
Last Month	El mes pasado	El mes pasado me dieron un aumento.
This Month	Este mes	Este mes voy a tener mucho trabajo.
Next Month	El próximo mes	El próximo mes me voy a Colombia.
Take Your Time	Toma tu tiempo	Toma tu tiempo para responder.
Once Upon A Time	Érase una vez	Érase una vez, en un reino muy, muy lejano.
A Long Time	Mucho tiempo	Me quedo en Argentina mucho tiempo.
Sometime	Alguna vez	¿Alguna vez has ido a Venezuela?
Occasionally	Ocasionalmente	Ocasionalmente tomo vino tinto.
Have a great time	Pásalo bien	¡Pásalo bien en tus vacaciones!
Until next time!	¡Hasta la próxima!	Ya me voy. ¡Hasta la próxima!
Over Time	A lo largo del tiempo	Te vas a ir acostumbrando a lo largo del tiempo.
Time is money	El tiempo es oro	El tiempo es oro, así que ¡a trabajar!
Time’s up	¡Se acabó el tiempo!	¡Se acabó el tiempo! Ya terminó el examen.
Out of time	Ya no queda tiempo	Me gustaría conocer ese museo, pero ya no nos queda tiempo.
Time flies	El tiempo vuela	El tiempo vuela cuando te diviertes.

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Frequently asked questions

How do I say “decades” in Spanish?

Decades are pronounced in the plural in Spanish, just as they are in English. The ’80s, for example, are los ochentas, the ’90s, los noventas, and so on. The only difference is that you must spell the numbers when writing them.

What is the Spanish word for a century?

The word for “century” in Spanish is siglo. Apart from that, there is no need to use ordinal numbers when referring to a specific century.

How do I ask “How long?” in Spanish?

¿Cuánto tiempo? Means how long in Spanish.

Conclusion

We hope now you know how to tell time in Spanish. We recommend you engage in extensive Spanish-speaking practice to attain frequency. Don’t fear mistakes and practice every new concept you learn.

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