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When someone asks you ¿Qué hora es? (What time is it?), or when you ask it to another person, you must now how to tell the time in Spanish in order to decipher the exact time they are telling you, or so you can answer correctly. So let’s learn that and some other expressions related.

What hour-time format we use in Spanish?

When we write a specific time: When writing we can use both, the 12-hour and the 24-hour time format. If we are using the 12-hour time format we can use a.m. or p.m. if needed. Or we can say “de la mañana” (in the morning) or “de la tarde” (in the afternoon).

When we are talking to another person and we say a specific time: We usually use the 12-hour time format, and we can say “de la mañana” (in the morning) or “de la tarde” (in the afternoon) if needed. Unless we want to be very specific about one hour in the afternoon, so we use the 24-hour format.

How to ask what time is it in Spanish?

Ok, let’s learn how to ask what time is it to other people. And therefore we will also know when other people are asking us what time is it 😄.

But today asking for the time is something no longer needed for most people. Just some years ago not everyone was wearing a watch, but now everyone has a mobile phone with them. And it tells the hour. Yes, those funny moments when an unknown person asks you the time are not usual nowadays.

“¿Qué hora es?“: What time is it?. Well, this is the typical expression both in Spanish and in English. We can say it to one person or to a group of persons. In this case you know the person, otherwise if you ask just like that it will sound rude.

“¿Tienes hora?“: What time is it?. You can say this to other person you are talking to.

You can say “Perdona, ¿tienes hora?” or “Perdona, ¿me puedes decir qué hora es?” (Sorry, can you tell me what time is it?) to someone else you’re not talking to at the time. It can even be an unknown person: for example if you are in a bar and you ask someone nearby for the time.

Or also “Perdone, ¿me puede decir qué hora es?“: Sorry, can you tell me what time is it?. When you want to ask with much respect and sound very kind.

“A qué hora …“: What time …?. For example if you want to know ¿A qué hora hay que estar en el aeropuerto?/¿A qué hora tenemos que estar en el aeropuerto? (What time do we have to be at the airport?).
Another example can be when you want to arrange a time with someone and you ask “¿A qué hora te viene bien?” (What time is okay for you?).
Or if you want to know what time did something happen you can ask “¿A qué hora …?” (What time did …?).
“¿A qué hora pasó?“: this expresión depends on the situation: It can mean What time did it happen? if you ask for something that has happen, or What time did he come? If you ask for the hour when a person has come. But in the second case we usually say “¿A qué hora se pasó?“.
But if you don’t use the accent you would ask “¿A qué hora paso?“, meaning What time do I come? or What time do I go?, but it is better if we say “¿A qué hora me paso?“. Or simply “¿A qué hora vengo?” What time do I come? or “¿A qué hora voy?” What time do I go?
“¿A qué hora fue?” again depends on the situation. It can mean What time did he go? or What time did it happen?.

How to tell the time in Spanish

Okay, but we don’t know how to tell the time, yet 😂. Keep calm, right now we get to it (Ahora mismo nos ponemos a ello).

01:00; 02:00; … ; 00:00:
We can say “en punto” o’clock, but is not necessary and we don’t use it too much.

↪ When we use the 12-hour format (for both morning and afternoon hours) or the first half of the 24 (for morning hours).
01:00 – “Es la una en punto” or just and more usual “Es la una” (It is one o’clock). We just use that “Es” to tell the time from 01:00 to 01:59, because 1 is singular. For the rest we will use “Son” (we can translate “Son” like They are) except for 13:00.
02:00 – “Son las dos“, “Son las dos en punto“.
03:00 – “Son las tres“, “Son las tres en punto“.
… Well, I hope you know the numbers in Spanish.
12:00 – “Son las doce“, “Son las doce en punto“. We also say “Es mediodía” (It’s noon), and even “Son las doce del día“.

↪ So, what happens with the second half of the 24-hour format (from 12:00 to 24:00)?
13:00 – We usually say “Es la una” or sometimes “Es la una en punto“. It is not usual, but we can say “Son las trece cero cero” (It is thirteen oh oh) or “Son las trece horas“
14:00 – “Son las dos“, “Son las dos en punto“.
15:00 – “Son las tres“, “Son las tres en punto“.
…
24:00 or 00:00: “Son las doce“, or “Son las doce de la noche” (It’s midnight). And sometimes we say “Son las cero cero” (the literal translation would be They are the zero zero).

Now the quarter hours:

↪ When we use the 12-hour format (for both morning and afternoon hours) or the first half of the 24 (for morning hours).
In Spanish we say:
– “y cuarto” (a quarter past). We could say also “y quince” (literally “and fifteen”), but it is not usual.
04:15 – “Son las cuatro y cuarto“, It’s a quarter past four.
09:15 – “Son las nueve y cuarto“, It’s a quarter past nine.
– “menos cuarto” (a quarter to). Sometimes we say “y cuarenta y cinco” (literally “and forty five“), and we say that as usually as “menos cuarto”.
01:45 – “Son las dos menos cuarto” (It is a quarter to two) or “Es la una y cuarenta y cinco” (It’s one forty-five).
10:45 – “Son las once menos cuarto” (It is a quarter to eleven) or “Son las diez y cuarenta y cinco” (It’s ten forty-five).

↪ When we use the second half of the 24-hour format (from 12:00 to 24:00):
We only say “y quince” and “y cuarenta y cinco“.
13:45 – “Son las trece y cuarenta y cinco” or “Son las trece horas y cuarenta y cinco minutos“.
23:15 – “Son las veintitrés y quince” or “Son las veintitrés horas y quince minutos“.

If you heard something about “los cuartos” related to end of the year, they are talking about how to understand how the “Carrillón” (the carillon, that are the bells of clocks) of the famous clock in Puerta del Sol square in Madrid will sound before it reaches the 00:00 hour.

The hours and a half work in a similar way:

↪ When we use the 12-hour format (for both morning and afternoon hours) or the first half of the 24 (for morning hours).
In Spanish we say:
– “y media” (half past), but and sometimes we say “y treinta” (literally and thirty).
01:30 – “Es la una y media” (It’s half past one) or “
05:30 – “Son las cinco y media” (it’s half past five) or “Son las cinco y treinta” (It is five thirty).
12:30 – “Son las doce y media” (it’s half past twelve) or “Son las doce y treinta” (It is twelve thirty).

↪ When we use the second half of the 24-hour format (from 12:00 to 24:00):
– We use “y treinta” or just “treinta” in Spanish. Sometimes we put “minutos” (minutes) after those, more often when we use “y treinta”.
16:30 – “Son las dieciséis y treinta“, or “Son las dieciséis y treinta minutos“. Or “Son las dieciséis treinta” (It is sixteen thirty).
21:30 – “Son las veintiuno y treinta” or “Son las veintiuno treinta” (It is sixteen thirty).

And now, what about any time in between those we have just learn?:

↪ Most times we say “Son las … y … minutos” (It is … minutes past …) or just “Son las … y …” (It is … past …):
01:06 – “Es la una y seis” or “Es la una y seis minutos“. Remember that we use “Es” when se say the time between 01:00 and 02:00.
15:23 – “Son las quince y veintitrés” or “Son las quinte y veintitrés minutos“. Yes, also “Son las quince veintitrés“.
08:52 – “Son las ocho y cincuenta y dos” or “Son las ocho y cincuenta y dos minutos“. We can also say “Son las ocho cincuenta y dos“.

↪ Sometimes we say “Pasan … minutos de las …“, but it will sound odd after the clock passes the fifteen minutes:
– 07:04 – “Pasan cuatro minutos de las siete” (It is four past seven).
In the second half of the 24-hour format it will sound better if we add that “horas” at the end. “Pasan seis minutos de las 17 horas“.
– 21:19 – “Pasan diecinueve minutos de las veintiuna horas” (It is nineteen past twenty one).
↪ And a funny way to say the time when it is only less than five minutes after the fifteen. Imagine someone knows the hour but wants to know the minute, and the person asks: ¿Son las tres yyy? or ¿Cuánto pasa de las tres? (How long past three?). Then you can answer something like: “Pasan dos minutos de y cuarto” It’s two minutes past fifteen. Yes, “de y cuarto”.
You can also use “de menos cuarto“, but not it the if the clockwise is beyond 50: “Pasan cinco minutos de menos cuarto” that literally means It’s five minutes after minus a quarter. Then, ¿Cuánto falta para las siete? – Faltan diez minutos.
Okay, you can also use that with “y media” saying “Faltan … minutos para las y media” or “Pasan … minutos de las y media“.

↪ When we say the last 19 minutes to reach the next hour in the clock we can say “Faltan … minutos para las …” (It is … to …). Or “Son las … menos … minutos” (literally It is … minus … minutes), and in this case we can omit “minutos”, but it will sound better if we say it:
02:57 – “Faltan tres minutos para las tres” or “Son las tres menos tres minutos” (It’s three minutes to three).
05:46 – “Faltan cuatro minutos para las seis” or “Son las seis menos cuatro minutos” (It’s four minutes to six).
This is not usual in the second half of the 24-hour format.

↪ Yes, we like to round the minutes and say:
We round to ten (all the same using five): “Pasan diez minutos de …”; “Son las … y diez”; “Son y diez”; “Faltan diez minutos para las …”; “Son menos diez”; “Son las … menos diez”.
We round to twenty: “Son las … y veinte”; “Son y veinte”; “Faltan veinte minutos para las …”; “Son menos veinte”; “Son las … menos veinte”.
We round to thirty: “Son las … y treinta”; “Son y treinta”; “Son las … y media”; “Son y media”.
We round to forty: “Son las … y cuarenta”; “Son y cuarenta”.

Last trick to master how to tell the time in Spanish: Here in Spain (and I guess it must be almost the same in other Spanish speaking countries) we use all that that we have just learned when someone asks the simple question about what time is it. BUT, if we have to say “at what time something will happen” or “at what time one have to go somewhere” or “at what time … whatever”, then we use “A la” instead of “Es la” (“A la una“), and we use “A las” instead of “Son las” (A las once. At eleven o’clock).

Clock in Spanish time. With Downloadable chart

Luckily we use the same clock chart to measure time, so the clock face is the same in Spanish as in English. Not like when using a system to measure distances, but that’s another story.

And because it can useful to have a clock with the time in Spanish, you can download a chart with clock drawings and the time in Spanish.

Just as a curiosity. Did you know that you can also find the clock with roman numbers? But not only that. Do you notice some difference between the clocks face in the images? Pay attention and you will see that the number four sometimes is written as IIII (Cuatro palitos. Four sticks) instead of the correct IV. This is for aesthetics, for visual symmetry with the VIII. And it is easier to read IIII in the clock face.

Also, for romans IV are the first letters of ivpiter (Júpiter, te roman god), so in many cases they preferred to use IIII just in case the god could get angry if the used IV.

Some expressions using “hora” in Spanish

“A buenas horas“: “Too little too late“. But there is a nice Spanish expression that says “A buenas horas mangas verdes” (literally: in good hours green sleeves) that can be translated as “Lock the barn door after the horse has bolted“.
“¿Qué horas son estas?“: We say that when we complain or tell our son or daughter off after coming home too late after partying.

“Pedir hora“: Make an appointment. e.g. When you call the dentist to make an appointment: “Hola, llamaba para pedir hora” or also “Hola, llamaba para pedir cita” (Hi, I’m calling to make an appointment).

“A deshora“: At the wrong time or at an inconvenient time. e.g. “Ya sabes que a esta hora no te puedo atender. Siempre vienes a deshora” (You know that at this time I can not attend you. You always come at an inconvenient time).

“Es la hora“: “Is the time“. When finally it is the moment to begin something.

“Por horas“: For hours. e.g. “Trabaja por horas, por eso no se da tanta prisa. Pero hace un buen trabajo” (He works for hours, that’s why he’s not in such a hurry. But he does a good job).

“Horario“: Schedule, or timetable.

“A la hora“: On time. e.g. “Pedro siempre llega a la hora” (Pedro always is on time).
“A la hora en punto“: On the hour, or On the dot. e.g. “Quiero empezar a la hora en punto, ni un minuto antes ni un minuto después” (I want to start on the hour, not a minute before or a minute after).
“Ser puntual“: Being punctual. e.g. “Casi siempre llega tarde, no suele ser puntual” (He is almost always late, he is not usually punctual).

“A la hora de“: When it comes to. e.g. “A la hora de firmar un contrato asegúrate de entender bien lo que pone” (When it comes to signing a contract, make sure you understand what it says).

“Dar la hora“: Tell de time. e.g. “El reloj da la hora” (The clock tells the time).

“A horas intempestivas“: At an untimely hour or at an ungodly hour.
– e.g. “¡Tú y tu manía de volver siempre a horas intempestivas cuando saler a tomar algo!” (You and your habit of always coming back at an ungodly hour when you go out for a drink!).

“A altas horas de la noche“: Late at night. e.g. “Me preocupé porque me llamaron a altas horas de la noche” (I got worried because they called me late at night).

“Durante horas“: During hours, or for hours. e.g. “Estube esperando durante horas pero no volvió” (I’ve been waiting during hours but he didn’t come back).

“Horas libres“: Free hours. e.g. “Siempre tengo una hora libre por la mañana” (I always have a free hour in the morning).

“Hora punta“: Peak times. e.g. “En hora punta todo el personal de la empresa debe estar trabajando” (At peak times, all company personnel must be working).

“En hora punta“: Rush hour. e.g. “En hora punta el tráfico apenas avanza” (At rush hour the traffic hardly moves).

“¡Ya era hora!”: ¡It’s about time!

Well, it’s time to finish this article on how to ask and how to give the time in Spanish, or even how to read the time on the clock. I wait for you in the next article. Don’t come late.