Expressing Time in Spanish: Learn How to Tell Time in Spanish
How to express time in Spanish?
In Spanish, there are two ways to express time, the Twelve hours model and the Twenty-four hours model. Let's practice by filling in the blanks with the correct time expressions in Spanish.
Answer:
Let's fill in the times using the Twelve hours model:
The twelve hours model separates the first twelve hours (before-meridian) from the second twelve hours (post-meridian). When using this model with numbers, it should always be followed by am (ante meridiem) or pm (post meridiem). When using this model with words, the time should be followed by the words in the morning, afternoon, and night.
Now, let's fill in the blanks:
- Son las once y veinte de la noche. (11:20)
- La clase es a las cuatro y treinta (4:30) - you can also say cuatro y media.
- El programa es a la una en punto (1:00) - in this example, you should say a la una de la tarde (13:00 hs) o a la una de la mañana (01:00).
- Son las diez y cuarenta y cinco de la noche (10:45) - you can also say once menos cuarto or quince para las once (this is because it's fifteen minutes to eleven).
- La fiesta es a las nueve y treinta (9:30) - you can also say nueve y media.
- Son las siete y cuarenta de la mañana (7:40) - you can also say veinte para las ocho or ocho menos veinte (this is because it's twenty minutes to eight).
- Son las seis y diez de la mañana (6:10)
- Son las cuatro y cuarenta de la tarde (4:40) - you can also say veinte para las cinco or cinco menos veinte (this is because it's twenty minutes to five).
- Son las dos y diez de la tarde (2:10)
- Son las tres y cincuenta de la tarde (3:50) - you can also say diez para las cuatro or cuatro menos diez (this is because it's ten minutes to four).