La Hora: ¿Qué hora es? Telling time… 12 3 9 6 Telling time in Spanish isn’t difficult. So let’s begin by taking some basic steps: 12 Step 1: Let’s begin by splitting the clock into two parts. 3 Step 2: You should know that when it’s 15 minutes past the hour, or 15 minutes to the hour, we use the word… 9 CUARTO. Cuarto in Spanish is QUARTER in English 6 Step 3: By the same token, we refer to half past the hour as… MEDIA. Telling time… That’s right. The word “media” means “half” in Spanish! So “6 y media” means… 6 and a half OR half past 6!

La Hora: ¿Qué hora es? Telling time… 12 Hora Y Minutos 9 3 6 5: 30? Step 4: OK, good. The next thing you need to know is that when the minute hand is on the RIGHT side of the clock, we use… 12 Hora Y Minutos Example: 3:15 is… Las tres Y cuarto. 9 3 4:30 is… Las cuatro Y media. 2:20 is… Las dos Y veinte. 12:10 is… Las doce Y diez. 6 Now you try some. How about… 5: 30? 8:16? 11: 15? 9:23? Telling time… 10: 25? 7:08?

La Hora: ¿Qué hora es? 12 9 3 6 Telling time… Step 5: OK, great! So far so good? It looks like you’ve got the idea. Let’s move over to the LEFT side of the clock. 12 The left of the side of the clock (when the minute hand is on the left side) works the same way…with one little difference… 9 3 On the LEFT side of the clock, we say… HORA MENOS MINUTOS… Now we have to be a little careful. What we are saying is “X” minutes to/till the hour. 6 So, what we are saying above is… 20 minutes to 3 O’Clock. Telling time… BUT, here’s the catch…

La Hora: ¿Qué hora es? 12 3 9 6 3:45? 4:40? 7:50? 9:38? 10:53? The catch: 12 Remember: HORA MENOS MINUTOS. La Hora always comes first. So… while in English, we say, 20 minutes to 3, in Spanish we say… 3 9 Las 3 menos 20. La hora first… We simply change places… 20 minutes to 3 6 Las 3 menos 20 3:45? 4:40? 7:50? 9:38? 10:53? OK? Now you try a few…

So, here are some things to remember about telling time in Spanish… La Hora: ¿Qué hora es? One last thing: How do we ask about the time? 12 When we ask about the time, we ask… ¿Qué hora es? What time is it? We answer by saying… Son las (time). 3 9 Ex. Son las 12:20 (Son las doce y veinte). This is true except when there is a 1 (hour) in the answer…when that happens, we say… 6 Es la 1 y media OR Es la 1 menos cuarto…etc. So, here are some things to remember about telling time in Spanish…

La Hora: ¿Qué hora es? Remember: 1.- To ask the time, you say “¿Qué hora es?” What time is it? 2.- To answer, you say, “Son las…” or “Es la una (1) y / menos … (minutos).” 3.- When the minute hand is on the right side of the clock, we use “hora Y minutos.” 4.- When the minute hand is on the left side of the clock, we use, “hora MENOS minutos.” Always use hora first and then minutos. 5.- Cuarto in Spanish means Quarter. Media in Spanish means Half (half past…). En Punto, in Spanish means O’Clock. And that’s all there is to telling time in Spanish. It wasn’t that bad, now was it?

Let’s practice telling time. ¿Qué hora es? 5:15 AM 3:45 PM 1:20 PM 12:35 AM 8:30 AM 6:35 AM 13:15 PM 12: 20 PM 11: 55 PM 4:25 PM 9:33 AM 15:25 PM 7:18 AM 10:47 PM 22:40 PM Por (en) la manana? Por (en) la tarde? Por (en) la noche?