la hora. tiempo vs hora tiempo (time) is used to refer to time in a general way: he spends a lot of...

LA HORALA HORA

TIEMPO VS HORATIEMPO VS HORA

Tiempo (time) is used to refer to time in a general way:

He spends a lot of time with his girlfriend.Pasa mucho tiempo con su novia.

How much time do you have?¿Cuánto tiempo tienes?

TIEMPO VS HORATIEMPO VS HORA

Hora (hour) is used to indicate a specific time:

What time is it?¿Qué hora es?

¿Qué hora es? vs ¿A qué hora ¿Qué hora es? vs ¿A qué hora es?es?

When asking what time it is, we use:

What time is it?¿Qué hora es?It’s 2 o’clock.Son las 2.

¿Qué hora es? vs ¿A qué hora es?¿Qué hora es? vs ¿A qué hora es?

When asking at what time something happens we use:

(At) what time is the concert?¿A qué hora es el concierto?It’s at 3 o’clock.Es a las tres.

Singular vs PluralSingular vs Plural

Since Spanish must have agreement of number, the only clock time that is singular is the 1 o’clock hour. All other hours are plural:

It’s one o’clock.

Es la una.

It’s two o’clockSon las dos.

Quarter and Half HoursQuarter and Half Hours

To simplify, we often say it’s quarter or half past an hour, or “quarter ‘til”. Spanish uses the same terminology:

QuarterCuartoHalfMedia

Quarter and Half HoursQuarter and Half Hours

To say 3:15, or quarter past the hour, we use the number of the hour, followed by “and” (y), then the word for quarter:

¿Qué hora es?Son las tres y cuarto.

Quarter and Half HoursQuarter and Half Hours

To say half past (3:30), substitute the word for “half” (media)

¿Qué hora es?Son las tres y media.

Minutes until an hourMinutes until an hour

Once the minute hand of a clock moves past the half hour on an analog clock face, we generally say it is so many minutes “until” the next hour. In the case of 4:45, we would say it is “Quarter ‘til five”:

Son las cinco menos cuarto.

Notice that in Spanish, we always say the hour first and then the minutes.

Working with minutes past an Working with minutes past an hour on a digital clockhour on a digital clock

Working with a digital clock, the same hour (4:45) would be called “Four forty-five”.

Son las cuatro y cuarenta y cinco.

You just have to know your numbers through 59.

Try the following times: Try the following times: ¿Qué hora es?¿Qué hora es?

5:10Son las cinco y diez.6:20Son las seis y veinte.7:40Son las siete y cuarenta, or…Son las ocho menos veinte.

Try the following times: Try the following times: ¿Qué hora es?¿Qué hora es?

8:05Son las ocho y cinco.9:25Son las nueve y veinticinco.10:43Son las diez y cuarenta y tres.11:08.Son las once y ocho.

Just practice…Just practice…

To get used to telling time, you simply have to know your numbers from 1-59. If you have difficulty telling time, not knowing the numbers is probably the reason.

The only way to improve is to practice.