How to tell the time in Spanish - From beginner to advanced

We need to know how to tell the time in Spanish in order to make appointments, get to work or school on time, catch a train, bus, or plane, or determine whether we are running late or have plenty of time.

Simple expressions

Let’s start with the basics.

If we ask someone sitting next to us what time it is, they could respond:

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

Why la & las?

The Spanish word for “hour” is la hora . Since it’s feminine, most Spanish words referring to time are also feminine.

An image of a woman sitting on the floor with a big clock and a book, representing the process of learning the difference between la and las when telling time in the Spanish language.

Therefore we place the feminine article la or las before the number (e.g. la una, las dos, las tres, etc.).

La vs las

Also note that the singular form la is only used with “one o’clock” because we’re talking about a single hour.

How to ask what time it is, in Spanish?

We can use the following expressions to ask someone what time it is:

  • ¿Qué hora es?
    • or
  • ¿Tienes hora?

In an informal way, you can say:

  • Perdona, ¿me puedes decir la hora? – Excuse me, can you tell me the time?
    • or
  • ¿Me puedes decir qué hora es? – Can you tell me what time is it?

    For a more polite request, you can say:

    • ¿Disculpe, le importaría decirme qué hora es? – Excuse me, would you mind telling me what time it is?

    But for a formal request, you better say:

    • ¿Perdone, sería tan amable de decirme qué hora es? – Excuse me, would you be so kind as to tell me the time?
    An image of a man holding a well-designed clock, representing how to ask about time in the Spanish language.

    Specific time of the day

    Now that we know how to ask, let’s check how to point out the specific time of the day.

    To do so, we use:

    • AM – before noon – the pronunciation in Spanish would be ‘A eme’
    • PM – afternoon – the pronunciation in Spanish would be ‘Pe eme’
    • De la mañana – in the morning
    • De la tarde – in the afternoon
    • De la noche – at night
    • Mañana por la mañana – tomorrow morning
    • Del mediodía – at noon
    A woman waking up from her bed, representing how to differentiate between morning and evening in the Spanish language.

    Grammar structure

    In Spanish, we use the following grammar structure to tell the time:
    Es/son + la(s) + hora (time)

    Here are some examples:

    A young boy holding a Spanish grammar book, studying to identify the structure of telling time in Spanish.
    • 8:55 AM – Son las ocho y cincuenta y cinco de la mañana – It's eight fifty-five in the morning
    • 8:12 PM – Son las ocho y doce de la noche – It's eight twelve at night
    • 12:26 AM – Son las doce y veintiséis de la noche – It's eight twelve at night
    • 6:32 PM – Son las seis y treinta y dos de la tarde – It's six thirty-two in the afternoon.

    Quarter to, quarter past, half past

    A humorous image of a chicken holding a clock, symbolizing various ways of telling time in Spanish. As we say in English quarter to and quarter past, we use the same format to tell the time in Spanish.

    • y cuarto – quarter past
    • y media – half past

    Here are some examples:

    • 11:45 in the morning – Son las once y cuarenta y cinco (de la mañana) – It's eleven forty-five (in the morning)
    • 1:30 in the morning – Es la una y media de la madrugada – It's half past one in the morning
    • 9:45 in the morning – Son las diez menos cuarto (de la mañana) – It's a quarter to ten (in the morning)
    • 8:40 in the evening – Son las nueve menos veinte (de la noche) – It's twenty to nine (at night)

    Time and Transportation

    When we have to go from one place to another, knowing the time is crucial.
    Here are some examples of how to tell the time when using different modes of transportation:

    El taxi llega a las ocho en punto de la mañana
    The taxi arrives at eight o'clock in the morning
    El siguiente tren pasa a las nueve y media de la noche
    The next train passes at half past nine at night
    Debemos caminar cuarenta y cinco minutos hasta la estación de metro
    We must walk forty-five minutes to the subway station
    Si vamos en autobús, tardaremos 3 horas en llegar
    If we take a bus, it will take us 3 hours to get there
    A humorous image of a dog driving a car, symbolizing various transportation modes in Spanish-speaking countries.

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