Telling the time in Spanish
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What will you find on this page?
- how to ask the time
- how to say the full hours
- the half hours
- the quarters
- the specific minutes
- the digital clock
Lesson outline
Hide- 1.How do you ask the time in Spanish and how do you answer
- 2.The clock in Spanish
- 2.1.Full Hours
- 2.2.Half hour in Spanish
- 2.3.Quarters in Spanish time
- 2.4.Minutes in Spanish
- 2.5.Digital time
- 3.Example dialogue with English translation
- 4.Example dialogue - formal
- 5.Exercises
- 5.1.How to write the time in Spanish exercise
How do you ask the time in Spanish and how do you answer
If it´s 1 o´clock, we use the expression "Es la una". In any other case, it is made use of "Son las"...
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¿Qué hora es? | What time is it? |
| Son las.... | It´s.... |
| Es la una. | It´s one o´clock. |
For example:
- Son las 3. (It's 3 o'clock)
- Son las 6 y 48. (It's 6,48)
- Son las 8 y 30. (It's 8,30)
- Son las 12 menos 5. (It's 5 to 12)
Son las 12 menos 5 minutos. (It's 5 minutes to 12)
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The clock in Spanish
Full Hours
As we've already referenced to it, for telling the full hours, we use the locutions "es la una" and "son las...".
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Son las 4. | It's 4 o'clock. |
| Es la una. | It's 1 o'clock. |
Son las 4. (It's 4 o'clock)
Half hour in Spanish
Communicating the half hours happens accompanied by the the constructions: Son las ... y media and es la una y media, where "media" means "half".
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Son las 8 y media. | It's half past 8. |
| Es la una y media. | It's half past 1. |
Quarters in Spanish time
Like in English, in Spanish we can use quarters for expressing the hour, where "cuarto" means "quarter".
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Son las 12 y cuarto. | It's a quarter past 12. |
| Son las 7 menos cuarto. | It's a quarter to 7. |
| Es la una y cuarto. | It's a quarter past 1. |
| Es la una menos cuarto. | It's a quarter to 1. |
Son las 12 y cuarto. (It's a quarter past 12)
Minutes in Spanish
In comparison with English, here we say firstly the hour and then the minutes.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Son las 10 y 10. | It's 10 past 10. |
| Son las 5 menos 10. | It's 10 to 5. |
| Es la 1 y 10. | It's 10 past 1. |
| Es la 1 menos 5. | It's 5 to 1. |
Son las 10 y 10 minutos. (It's 10 past 10)
Digital time
As in English, we could say the hour + all of the minutes passing it.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Son las 7 y 28. | It's 7,28. |
| Es la 1 y 35. | It's 1,35. |
Son las 7 y 28. (It's 7,28)
Example dialogue with English translation
Francisco: ¡Hola!, ¿Qué hora es? Hello! What time is it?
Jorge: Son las 10 y 8. It's 8 past 10.
Example dialogue - formal
Felipe: ¡Hola! Qué hora es, por favor? Hello! What time is it, please?
Alex: Son las 9 en punto. It's 9 sharp.
Felipe: ¡Muchas gracias! Thank you very much!
Now you can practice communicating the hour with the exercises we kindly prepared for you.
Exercises
How to write the time in Spanish exercise
Write the time in Spanish!
1. It's 5 minutes to 6. 6 5.
2. It's 6 to 3. 3 6.
3. It's 25 minutes past 8. 8 25 .
4. It's a quarter to 8. 8 .
5. It's 5 past 5. 5 5.
6. It's a quarter past 7. 7 .
7. It's 15 minutes past 1. 15 .
8. It's 10 minutes past 3. 3 10 .
9. It's half past 3. 3 .
10. It's 9:33. 9 33.
Exercises
How to write the time in Spanish exercise
Write the time in Spanish!
1. It's 5 minutes to 6. 6 5.
2. It's 6 to 3. 3 6.
3. It's 25 minutes past 8. 8 25 .
4. It's a quarter to 8. 8 .
5. It's 5 past 5. 5 5.
6. It's a quarter past 7. 7 .
7. It's 15 minutes past 1. 15 .
8. It's 10 minutes past 3. 3 10 .
9. It's half past 3. 3 .
10. It's 9:33. 9 33.
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¡Hola! I’m Paul from Venezuela. I’ve been living in France since 2012, where I work as a fully qualified Spanish teacher at the university level, with up-to-date training.
I have extensive experience preparing students for DELE, SIELE, Bright, and CLOE exams, as well as general Spanish practice.
I specialize in helping students improve their Spanish pronunciation and grammar, assisting many in developing a more natural and fluid way of speaking.
I have worked for various universities and associations for over 10 years. Currently, I teach online for CoLanguage and engineering schools in France, mainly to university and high school students.
My sessions focus on encouraging students to use Spanish effectively, building their confidence, and helping them find their own natural way of expressing themselves in my language.
Looking forward to seeing you!
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As a language teacher and a language learner myself, I am aware that everyone learns at their own pace and everyone learns in different ways. Therefore, addressing the needs of each student individually is crucial to my teaching approach. It is true that language learning takes time and commitment but online teaching has transformed the learning experience in such a way that, with the help of developing technology and the internet, you can accelerate your learning much faster than you can with traditional teaching methods. Some of the key elements in accelerated learning that I adapt in my teaching methodology are as follows:
Flipped Classroom:
In contrast to conventional teaching methods, students are provided with class material prior to the lesson. This allows them to practice what they have learnt during classroom discussions and activities.
Task-based Approach:
Traditional teaching approaches focused on the content that teachers thought their students needed to learn. This included a lot of emphasis on grammar. Task-based approach, on the other hand, focuses on the skills that the students want to acquire. The teacher no longer focuses on ‘what’ is taught but ‘why’ it is taught.
Lexical Syllabus:
In line with the task-based approach, lexical syllabus focuses on the vocabulary that the student needs to learn in order to perform a specific task. For example, the word ‘asset’ is essential for a business student, similarly, ‘biopsy’ is an essential word for a medical student.
My approach allows me to connect with students' previous learning experiences and knowledge and increase their reflection between what they learn and their life experiences. Overall, it is a student-centered, interactive, collaborative and communicative approach.
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I got certified with the University of Cambridge TKT test, developed empathy to students, polished my method, and the last 5 years I have been teaching english in an online environment.
After years teaching online, I can say that the computer screen is not a limitation. I love to see my students thrive in a new language, I develop my own exercises too, My classes are fun, dynamic and interesting to say the least, I believe I have the patience to create exercises and drills for my students and approach learning from a different perspective and overcome boredom, tiredness and lack of discipline.
I work with realia mostly, and I can tell you that nothing is more powerful than things and situations that are personal to a person.
S. .
Manuel is the teacher I was willing to meet. He was able on our very first class to understand my needs and expectations. He's very professional and his knowledge and teaching methods make me feel very confident about my ability to improve my skills in Spanish language.
Manuel Q.
Hello!
I am Jérôme.
There has never been a better time to learn a foreign language. We all have a good reason to learn at least one: our job, our friend circle, our envy to travel.
I have been training professionals and students to speak fluently and confidently for 10 years. Their level has significantly improved. They have got very good results and evolved professionally and personally!
Is it really necessary to remind you why English is so important? The world’s number 1 language, a must for those who want to be internationally successful. It enables you to communicate with 1 billion people in the world! In other words, whether you want to travel, work or live abroad, speaking English is necessary.
French is a major language, if you want to have a career in tourism, luxury, be a chef or work for international organizations. So many doors open when you speak French! It is the 6th most spoken language in the world, with 300 million people on the 5 continents.
Foreign languages are my great passion in life. That is why I am determined to see you make progress. This is YOUR LANGUAGE COURSE! I will adapt the classes to your needs and your interests and will propose you customized activities. Together, we will improve your written and oral expression. I will train you to speak like a native and take you to the next level.
If you want to speak English or French fluently too, do not hesitate to contact me! I am convinced that you will also have something to teach me!
B. C.
Jerome is a very experienced and professional teacher. He structures the lesson based on the students needs and the learning material is complete and well organised.
This review was written by a coLanguage team member during a manual screening of this teacher profile.
JEROME S.
¡Hola! I’m Paul from Venezuela. I’ve been living in France since 2012, where I work as a fully qualified Spanish teacher at the university level, with up-to-date training.
I have extensive experience preparing students for DELE, SIELE, Bright, and CLOE exams, as well as general Spanish practice.
I specialize in helping students improve their Spanish pronunciation and grammar, assisting many in developing a more natural and fluid way of speaking.
I have worked for various universities and associations for over 10 years. Currently, I teach online for CoLanguage and engineering schools in France, mainly to university and high school students.
My sessions focus on encouraging students to use Spanish effectively, building their confidence, and helping them find their own natural way of expressing themselves in my language.
Looking forward to seeing you!
Paul
T. .
Well prepared, very structured, very friendly. We are a group of two persons from Germany learning Spanish together with Paul and it all works very well. A clear recommendation!
Paul G.
I offer smart and fun lessons for all levels and ages! I am a native Turkish speaker from Cyprus and an English teacher by profession. Alongside full-time teaching, I work as a freelance translator/interpreter (Turkish-English) on a part-time basis. I have extensive teaching experience especially with university students, secondary school students and adults. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced learner, I can help you (or your child) improve your language skills with customized lessons and authentic teaching material.
As a language teacher and a language learner myself, I am aware that everyone learns at their own pace and everyone learns in different ways. Therefore, addressing the needs of each student individually is crucial to my teaching approach. It is true that language learning takes time and commitment but online teaching has transformed the learning experience in such a way that, with the help of developing technology and the internet, you can accelerate your learning much faster than you can with traditional teaching methods. Some of the key elements in accelerated learning that I adapt in my teaching methodology are as follows:
Flipped Classroom:
In contrast to conventional teaching methods, students are provided with class material prior to the lesson. This allows them to practice what they have learnt during classroom discussions and activities.
Task-based Approach:
Traditional teaching approaches focused on the content that teachers thought their students needed to learn. This included a lot of emphasis on grammar. Task-based approach, on the other hand, focuses on the skills that the students want to acquire. The teacher no longer focuses on ‘what’ is taught but ‘why’ it is taught.
Lexical Syllabus:
In line with the task-based approach, lexical syllabus focuses on the vocabulary that the student needs to learn in order to perform a specific task. For example, the word ‘asset’ is essential for a business student, similarly, ‘biopsy’ is an essential word for a medical student.
My approach allows me to connect with students' previous learning experiences and knowledge and increase their reflection between what they learn and their life experiences. Overall, it is a student-centered, interactive, collaborative and communicative approach.
C. B.
Olga has a great teaching experience with students and adults. She can propose you different ways for learning Turkish and English. She uses pictures, exercices, Turkish or English news and recaps the vocabulary used. Olga is a smiling and nice person, you will enjoy Turkish or English lessons with her and will improve by her structured courses.
This review was written by a coLanguage team member during a manual screening of this teacher profile.
Thank you so much Clemence!