How To Say Time In Spanish

How to Say Time in Spanish: A Complete Guide for Beginners

Learning how to say time in Spanish is one of the first practical skills every language learner tackles, and it opens the door to everyday conversations, travel plans, and cultural nuances. In this article you will discover the essential vocabulary, the rules that govern hour expressions, common pitfalls to avoid, and ready‑to‑use phrases that will make you sound confident when asking or telling the time. Whether you are preparing for a trip to Spain, Mexico, or any other Spanish‑speaking country, mastering time expressions will boost your fluency and help you connect with native speakers on a daily basis.

Introduction

The ability to say time in Spanish relies on a relatively straightforward set of words and structures, but it also involves understanding two different clock formats: the 12‑hour system (common in most of the Americas) and the 24‑hour system (widely used in Spain and formal contexts). This guide breaks down each component step by step, providing clear examples, bolded key terms for quick reference, and italicized pronunciation tips where needed. By the end of the article you will be able to construct sentences such as “Son las tres y veinte” (It’s three twenty) and “La una menos diez” (It’s ten to one) with ease.

Understanding the 24‑Hour Clock vs. 12‑Hour Clock

Spanish speakers often use the 24‑hour format in writing and in official schedules, especially in Spain. Even so, in everyday conversation most people default to the 12‑hour system, just like English speakers. Recognizing when to switch between the two systems is crucial for accurate communication.

12‑hour format: Hours range from 1 to 12, followed by “am” (ante meridiem) or “pm” (post meridiem) in formal writing, though spoken Spanish usually omits these abbreviations.
24‑hour format: Hours range from 0 to 23, with midnight expressed as “00:00” and noon as “12:00”.

When you hear a time like “15:30”, a native speaker will typically say “las tres y media de la tarde” (three thirty in the afternoon). Conversely, “09:00” can be rendered as “las nueve de la mañana” (nine o’clock in the morning).

Basic Vocabulary for Hours

The core of any time‑telling conversation revolves around the words for numbers and the verb ser (to be). In Spanish, the hour is expressed using ser + the number, followed by “en punto” when the minutes are zero.

1 → la una (the one) → Es la una en punto (It is one o’clock).
2 → las dos (the two) → Son las dos en punto.
3 → las tres (the three) → Es la tres en punto.

Notice the gender agreement: “es” is used for 1 o’clock because “una” is feminine singular, while “son” is used for all other hours because the noun “horas” is plural.

Quick Reference Table

Number	Spanish Word	Example Sentence
1	la una	Es la una en punto.
2	las dos	Son las dos.Think about it:
8	las ocho	Son las ocho y cuarto.
4	las cuatro	Son las cuatro y cuarto.Also,
7	las siete	Es la siete.
11	las once	Es la once.Still,
3	las tres	Es la tres y diez. On top of that,
9	las nueve	Es la nueve. That said,
6	las seis	Son las seis y media. Also,
10	las diez	Son las diez y diez. Consider this:
5	las cinco	Es la cinco.
12	las doce	*Son las doce.

Minutes and Seconds

Minutes are expressed by adding the appropriate unit after the hour. The most common constructions are:

For more on this topic, read our article on words with tious and cious or check out why was it called roaring twenties.

:00 → en punto (exactly).
:01–:09 → y uno, y dos… (and one, and two…).
:10–:59 → y diez, y once… (and ten, and eleven…).

When the minutes are 30, Spanish speakers typically use y media (half). When the minutes are 15, they say y cuarto (quarter). For minutes 45, the phrase menos cuarto (minus a quarter) is common.

Example Sentences

Son las tres y veinte. – It’s three twenty.
Es la cuatro y media. – It’s four thirty.
Son las cinco menos diez. – It’s five to five (i.e., 4:50).
Es la seis y cuarenta y cinco. – It’s six forty‑five.

Italicized pronunciation tips: tres (trays), cuarto (kwahr-toh), media (meh-dee-ah).

How to Form Sentences with “son” and “es”

The choice between es and son hinges on the number that follows:

Use es only when the hour is one (la una).
Use son for all other hours (las dos, las tres, …).

This rule stems from the grammatical number of the noun “horas”. Remembering this distinction prevents common errors such as saying Es las tres (incorrect) instead of Son las tres.

Using “para” to Indicate Upcoming Hours

When you want to express that a certain number of minutes remain until the next hour, Spanish uses the preposition para followed by the number of minutes and the upcoming hour.

Son las ocho y veinte para las nueve. – It’s eight twenty, which is twenty minutes