Spanish · CEFR Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 16
¿Qué hora es?What time is it?
The time in Spanish is told with "ser": Es la una (singular, only for one o'clock) and Son las dos, Son las tres… (plural, for all the rest). You ask ¿Qué hora es? For the minutes: y media (:30), y cuarto (:15), menos cuarto (:45), and en punto (on the dot). New vocabulary: hora, minuto, media, cuarto, ahora, ya, temprano, tarde, pronto, en punto.
Dialogue
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¿Es o son?— es or son?
- CarlosMike, ¿qué hora es?Mike, what time is it?
- MikeEs las dos.It's two o'clock. (slip: two o'clock is plural — say "Son las dos", only one o'clock uses "Es")
- CarlosCon las dos usamos "son": Son las dos.With two we use "son": Son las dos.
- MikeAh, son las dos y media. ¡Ya es tarde!Ah, it's half past two. It's late already!
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¿A qué hora?— At What Time?
- LucíaCarlos, ¿a qué hora es la clase?Carlos, what time is the class?
- CarlosEs a las nueve en punto.It's at nine on the dot.
- Lucía¿Y ahora qué hora es?And what time is it now?
- CarlosSon las nueve menos cuarto. Es temprano.It's a quarter to nine. It's early.
Vocabulary
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- hora
n.f.hour, time (f)
- minuto
n.m.minute (m)
- media
n.f.half (past) (f)
- cuarto
n.m.quarter (m)
- ahora
adverbnow
- ya
adverbalready, now
- temprano
adverbearly
- tarde
adverblate
- pronto
adverbsoon
- en punto
phr.on the dot
Grammar
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Telling time with "ser"
Explanation
For the time you use "ser", but it switches between singular and plural. Only one o'clock is singular: Es la una. All the rest are plural: Son las dos, Son las tres, Son las diez. The question is ¿Qué hora es? (always "es" in the question). The minutes: you add with "y" up to the half hour (Son las dos y diez, y cuarto = :15, y media = :30) and subtract with "menos" after (Son las tres menos cuarto = 2:45, menos diez). "en punto" = the exact hour (Son las cinco en punto). For "at what time" you use "a": La clase es a las nueve.
Examples
- ¿Qué hora es? — Es la una.What time is it? — It's one o'clock.
- Son las dos y media.It's half past two.
- Son las tres menos cuarto.It's a quarter to three.
- La clase es a las nueve en punto.The class is at nine on the dot.
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