Telling Time Telling time in Spanish is straightforward

Telling Time

Telling time in Spanish is straightforward: It’s 2: 00. It’s 3: 00. It’s 4: 00. It’s 5: 00 ----- Son las dos. Son las tres. Son las cuatro. 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 at 2: 10“It’s 10 after 2: 00, ” or at 4: 20 “It’s 20 after 4: 00, ” ? In Spanish, you say… Its’s 2: 10. (It’s 2: 00 and 10). -- Son las dos y diez. . It’s 4: 20 (It’s 4: 00 and 20) -Son las cuatro y veinte. It’s 6: 15 (It’s 6: 00 and a quarter) Son las seis y cuarto (quince). It’s 8: 00 and a half. (8: 30) -Son las ocho y media (treinta).

It’s 3: 40. Would we say it’s forty AFTER three? No, we’d say “It’s 20 till 4: 00. ” So once you reach 30, you usually start counting backwards. You say, “It’s 4: 00 minus 20. ” It’s 3: 40—(It’s 4: 00 minus 20) Son las cuatro menos veinte. It’s 6: 55 - (It’s 7: 00 minus 5) Son las siete menos cinco. It’s 9: 35 (It’s 10: 00 minus 25) Son las diez menos veinticinco. It’s 11: 45(It’s 12: 00 minus a quarter/15). Son las doce menos cuarto (quince).

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.