How To Tell Time (Decir la Hora) in Spanish — Beginner-Friendly Guide

Knowing how to tell time in Spanish unlocks a huge part of daily conversation: making plans, asking for schedules, understanding appointments, catching buses, showing up on time (or fashionably late, which is also a skill). By the end of this guide, you’ll know how to ask for the time, say any hour naturally, use y cuarto, y media, menos, handle tricky “1 o’clock” grammar, and understand how Spanish speakers actually talk about time—not just the textbook way.

This is your Yak Yacker clock manual. Accurate, friendly, and occasionally caffeinated.

Quick Primer

Before jumping into the hours, keep these essentials in mind:

Spanish uses “ser” for telling time: Es la una, Son las dos.
Use “la” only for 1 o’clock, because una is feminine.
To say “at ___ o’clock,” use a + la/las: a la una, a las tres.
For minutes after the hour, Spanish uses y; for minutes before the hour, menos.

Once you know these, everything else is pattern-based and easy to build.

How to Ask “What Time Is It?”

The simplest, most universal form is ¿Qué hora es? Use it everywhere.

Hours on the Clock (1–12)

Spanish uses the feminine plural article “las” for all hours except 1.

Notice how predictable it is—only una uses la.

Minutes After the Hour (y + minutes)

For :01–:30, Spanish uses y:

For 30, you say y media (half past).

Minutes Before the Hour (menos + minutes)

For :31–:59, Spanish often counts backwards:

For :45, Spanish usually uses menos cuarto (“quarter to”).

Quarters & Halves (cuarto / media)

Examples:

Son las tres y cuarto.
/son las tɾes i ˈkwaɾ.to/
It’s 3:15.

Son las diez menos cuarto.
/son las djes ˈme.nos ˈkwaɾ.to/
It’s 9:45.

Midnight & Noon

You can also say:

Son las doce del día. — 12 p.m.
Son las doce de la noche. — 12 a.m.

How To Say “At ___ O’Clock”

Use a la (for 1) and a las (for all other hours):

Examples in full sentences:

La clase empieza a las nueve.
/la ˈkla.se emˈpje.sa a las ˈnwe.βe/
The class starts at nine.

Voy a llegar a la una.
/boj a ʝeˈɣaɾ a la ˈu.na/
I’m going to arrive at one.

12-Hour vs. 24-Hour Clock

Most spoken Spanish uses the 12-hour clock with time-of-day markers:

Examples:

Son las ocho de la mañana. — 8:00 a.m.
Son las cinco de la tarde. — 5:00 p.m.
Son las diez de la noche. — 10:00 p.m.

For official schedules (trains, flights, timetables), Spanish uses 24-hour format:

14:00 — las dos de la tarde
20:30 — las ocho y media de la noche

Talking About Time Naturally (Useful Phrases)

Examples:

¿A qué hora sales?
/a ke ˈo.ɾa ˈsa.les/
What time do you leave?

Salgo a las seis y media.
/ˈsal.ɣo a las sejs i ˈme.ðja/
I leave at 6:30.

Usage Notes & Common Mistakes

Learners often trip on these points:

1. “Es la” vs. “Son las”

Only 1 o’clock uses es la.
Everything else uses son las.

2. Don’t say “es uno”
Always: Es la una.

3. “y” vs. “menos”
Spanish prefers menos for :45, :50, :55.

4. Time-of-day markers matter
“Son las cinco” could mean 5 a.m. or 5 p.m..
Add de la mañana/tarde/noche for clarity.

5. Don’t mix the article when saying “at”
Use: a la una, a las tres.
Not: a las una or a la tres.

Region Notes

Spain:
Clear use of menos for :35–:59.
You’ll hear y cuarto and menos cuarto very consistently.

Mexico & Latin America:
Extremely standard and beginner-friendly.
In some areas, people may say las siete y quince instead of y cuarto.

Caribbean:
Final s may soften: las tres → la’ tre’.
But the structure stays identical.

Southern Cone (Argentina, Uruguay, Chile):
Son las dos y media may sound like do’ y media (soft s), but grammar doesn’t change.

Mini Dialogues

Dialogue 1: Asking for the Time

¿Qué hora es?
/ke ˈo.ɾa es/
What time is it?

Son las tres y veinte.
/son las tɾes i ˈbejn.te/
It’s 3:20.

Dialogue 2: Making Plans

¿A qué hora quedamos?
/a ke ˈo.ɾa keˈða.mos/
What time are we meeting?

A las siete menos cuarto.
/a las ˈsjɛ.te ˈme.nos ˈkwaɾ.to/
At 6:45.

Dialogue 3: Work or School Schedule

¿A qué hora empieza la clase?
/a ke ˈo.ɾa emˈpje.sa la ˈkla.se/
What time does the class start?

A las nueve en punto.
/a las ˈnwe.βe em ˈpun.to/
At nine o’clock sharp.

Quick Reference (Screenshot-Friendly)

Five-Minute Practice Plan

Say all 12 hours out loud using Es la and Son las correctly.
Build 10 random times using y and menos.
Record yourself reading three real schedules: morning, afternoon, evening.
Shadow Dialogue 2, focusing on rhythm in menos cuarto.
Write five appointment sentences using a la/las.
Look at your actual clock and say the time in Spanish once per hour today.

Yak-Style Closing Spark

Once you master telling time in Spanish, conversations become smoother, plans become clearer, and you officially graduate from “lost tourist energy” to “competent bilingual adult energy.” Keep practicing your horas, and soon saying “Nos vemos a las siete” will feel as automatic as checking your phone for the time anyway.