|
To
tell time in Spanish, the verb comes first - according
to whether it's 1:00 (one something) or 2:00 (onward).
Obviously
1 is singular, and anything above 1 is plural.
When
telling time, the verb has to conform to the number,
whether it's plural or not:
If
it's 1:00, 1:01, 1:02, 1:03, 1:04, etc. --- the verb
used is ES, because
you're saying "It is one
(something)."
|
1:00 |
Es
la una. |
It's
one o'clock. |
|
1:07 |
Es
la una y siete. |
It's
one o seven. |
|
1:30 |
Es
la una y media. |
It's
one thirty. |
Any
hour after 1:59 uses the verb form SON,
because you're dealing with a plural number: "They are
2, 3, 4, etc. hours"
|
2:15 |
Son
las dos y quince. |
It's
two fifteen. |
|
3:02 |
Son
las tres y dos. |
It's
three o two. |
|
5:40 |
Son
las cinco y cuarenta. |
It's
five forty. |
|
6:53 |
Son
las siete menos siete. |
It's
seven to seven. |
|
8:05 |
Son
las ocho y cinco. |
It's
eight o five. |
The
la or las
has to appear in telling time, or you're not telling
time !!!
| When
telling the quarter hour, either y quince
(fifteen) or y
cuarto (a quarter) may be used. |
|
8:15 |
Son
las ocho y quince. |
or
|
Son
las ocho y cuarto. |
|
12:15 |
Son
las doce y quince. |
or |
Son
las doce y cuarto. |
|
3:15 |
Son
las tres y quince. |
or |
Son
las tres y cuarto. |
|
|
| When
telling the half hour y
media is generally preferred over y
treinta. |
|
2:30 |
Son
las dos y media. |
It's
two thirty. |
|
4:30 |
Son
las cuatro y media. |
It's
four thirty. |
|
7:30 |
Son
las siete y media. |
It's
seven thirty. |
|
11:30 |
Son
las once y media. |
It's
eleven thirty. |
|
|
| When
stating a quarter to
the Spanish equivalent is [the next hour menos
cuarto] or [the next hour menos quince]. |
|
2:45 |
Son
las tres menos cuarto. |
(It's
three minus a quarter.) |
|
6:45 |
Son
las siete menos quince. |
(It's
seven minus a quarter.) |
|
9:45 |
Son
las diez menos cuarto. |
(It's
ten minus a quarter.) |
|
12:45 |
Es
la una menos quince. |
(It's
one minus a quarter.) |
|
|
| Most
frequently any time after the half hour is given
in relation to the next hour using menos. |
|
3:51 |
Son
las cuatro menos nueve. |
It's
nine to three. |
|
7:35 |
Son
las ocho menos veinticinco. |
It's
twenty five to eight. |
|
10:40 |
Son
las once menos veinte. |
It's
twenty to eleven. |
|
12:39 |
Es
la una menos veintiuno. |
It's
twenty one to one. |
|
4:45 |
Son
las cinco menos cuarto. |
It's
a quarter to five. |
|
|
Do
the following list of times as quickly as you can.
Some
of them are done for you already, but you gotta do the
rest of them yourself.
EXERCISE:
Go
through the day telling yourself what time it is.
Look
at a clock every chance you get, and TELL YOURSELF THE
TIME!
Do
this exercise for a few days, until YOU can deal with
time-telling. |
