1.4.1

Time

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¿Qué hora es? - What Time Is It?

Es / Son

Es / Son

  • There are only three times when you use 'es' for talking about time.
  • Midday, midnight and one o'clock use 'es'.
    • es la una - it is one o'clock
    • es mediodía - it is midday
    • es medianoche - it is midnight
  • For all other times, you use 'son'.
    • son las tres - it is three o'clock
Past

Past

  • In Spanish, to say the time past the hour, you use 'y', which means 'and'.
  • You literally join the hour and the minutes with 'y'.
    • son las cuatro y media - it is half past four
    • son las ocho y cuarto - it is quarter past eight
    • son las cuatro y veinte - it is twenty past four
To

To

  • To say it is 'something to' (minutes before the hour) in Spanish, you use 'menos'.
  • It’s like saying the next hour minus the minutes left.
    • es la una menos cinco - it is 5 to one
    • son las dos menos cuarto - it is quarter to two
At ... o'clock

At ... o'clock

  • To say 'at something o'clock' you need to use 'a'.
    • a las once - at 11 o'clock
    • a medianoche - at midnight
Jump to other topics
1

You, Family & Home

1.1

Introducing Yourself & Being Polite

1.1.1Name & Age1.1.2Being Polite: Hello1.1.3Being Polite: Please1.1.4Introductions
1.2

Looks & Personality

1.2.1Hair1.2.2Eyes1.2.3Physical Appearance1.2.4Personality
1.3

My Family & I

1.3.1Family Members1.3.2Other Family Members1.3.3Pets
1.4

Days, Months & Time

1.4.1Time1.4.2Days of the Week1.4.3Months of the Year
1.5

Numbers

1.5.1Numbers 1-101.5.2Numbers 11-201.5.3Numbers 21-291.5.4Numbers: 30-391.5.5Numbers: 40-491.5.6Numbers: 50-591.5.7Numbers: 60-691.5.8Numbers: 70-791.5.9Numbers: 80-891.5.10Numbers: 90-100
2

School & Jobs

2.1

School

2.1.1School Subjects (1/2)2.1.2School Subjects (2/2)
3

Free Time

3.1

Free Time

3.1.1Sports: Jugar3.1.2Sports: Hacer3.1.3Music
3.2

Town

3.2.1Shops (1/2)3.2.2Shops (2/2)3.2.3Places in Town3.2.4Talking About Places in Town
3.3

Shopping

3.3.1Liking & Not Liking3.3.2Fruit3.3.3Vegetables3.3.4Clothes (1/2)3.3.5Clothes (2/2)
3.4

Holiday

3.4.1Good Weather3.4.2Bad Weather
4

Grammar

4.1

Verbs

4.1.1Subject Pronouns4.1.2Subject Pronouns: Explanation4.1.3Verbs4.1.4Conjugation
4.2

Important Irregular Verbs

4.2.1To Be - Ser4.2.2Uses of 'Ser' (1/2)4.2.3Uses of 'Ser' (2/2)4.2.4To Be - Estar4.2.5Uses of 'Estar' (1/2)4.2.6Uses of 'Estar' (2/2)4.2.7'Ser' or 'Estar' (1/2)4.2.8'Ser' or 'Estar' (2/2)4.2.9To Have4.2.10Uses of 'Tener'
4.3

Regular Verbs in the Present Tense

4.3.1Regular 'AR' Verbs in the Present Tense: 'Hablar'4.3.2Regular 'AR' Verbs in the Present Tense4.3.3Regular 'ER' Verbs in the Present Tense4.3.4'ER' Verbs in the Present: Examples4.3.5Regular 'IR' Verbs in the Present Tense4.3.6Regular 'IR' Verbs in the Present: Examples
4.4

Verbs in the Immediate Future

4.4.1Immediate Future4.4.2Immediate Future: Uses
4.5

Negatives

4.5.1Negatives4.5.2Just the 'Nada' Bit
4.6

Nouns

4.6.1Saying 'A' & 'The' (Singular)4.6.2Saying 'Some' and 'The' (Plural)4.6.3Plural Nouns4.6.4Proper Nouns (1/2)4.6.5Proper Nouns (2/2)
4.7

Adjectives

4.7.1Adjectives4.7.2Adjectives: Spelling4.7.3Adjectives That Don't Change4.7.4'Grande' and 'Bueno'4.7.5Adjectives that Change Endings4.7.6Plural4.7.7Possession
4.8

Prepositions

4.8.1Common Prepositions
4.9

Questions

4.9.1Asking Questions
4.10

Conjunctions

4.10.1What Are Conjunctions?
4.11

Adverbials

4.11.1Adverbs of Manner4.11.2Adverbs of Time4.11.3Adverbs of Place

Practice questions on Time

Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

  1. 1
    You are in Spain and someone asks you what time it is. You look at your watch and see that it is '17:40'. <br><br>What do you say?Multiple choice
  2. 2
    You are in Spain and someone asks you what time it is. You look at your watch and see that it is '13:00'. <br><br>What do you say?Multiple choice
  3. 3
    What time is it?Multiple choice
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Pets

Days of the Week