Telling the Time in Spanish: The Complete Guide

Telling the time in Spanish (decir la hora en español) comes up constantly — making plans, catching trains, apologising for being late. The good news: the whole system runs on a handful of patterns. Master these and you’ll never hesitate at ¿qué hora es? (what time is it?) again.

Always Use the Verb Ser

Spanish always tells the time with ser — never estar. “O’clock” is technically horas, but just like in English, nobody says it:

• Son las 8 horas (it’s 8 o’clock)
• Son las 8 (it’s 8)
• Es la 1 (it’s 1)

The Time Is Plural — Except One O’Clock

Here’s the pattern that trips learners up: the hour is grammatically plural, because there’s more than one of them — except at one o’clock, when there’s exactly one. That holds in every tense. And in the past, reach for the imperfect (eran), never the preterite (fueron):

• Son las 2 (it’s 2)
• Eran las 9:30 (it was 9:30)
• Serán las 18:43 (it’ll be 6:43pm)
• Es la 1 (it’s 1)
• Era la 1:30 (it was 1:30)
• Será la 1:43 (it’ll be 1:43)

“At” a Time: A Las / A La

To say something happens at a particular time, use a las — or a la for one o’clock, following the same singular/plural logic:

• Te veo a las 11 (I’ll see you at 11)
• Te veo a la 1 (I’ll see you at 1)

In Writing, Use the 24-Hour Clock

Written Spanish uses the 24-hour clock, so there’s no need for AM or PM. Out loud, though, natives stick to the ordinary 12-hour clock:

• Quedamos a las 13 (meet at 1pm)
• Quedamos a las 22 (meet at 10pm)

There’s also a video guide if you’d rather watch this explained.

Times of Day — and the One English Doesn’t Have

• La madrugada (the early hours)
• La mañana (morning)
• La tarde (afternoon)
• La noche (night)

La madrugada is roughly 1–5am — the “wee hours”. It’s a real, everyday word, not a poetic one: for 3am a native doesn’t say son las tres de la mañana but son las tres de la madrugada.

To pin a time to a part of the day, use de la. If you’re being vaguer — “in the afternoon” in general rather than a specific hour — use por la:

• Llegó a las 2 de la madrugada (he arrived at 2 in the morning)
• La cafetería abre a las 8 de la mañana (the café opens at 8 in the morning)
• Salgo a correr por la tarde (I go running in the afternoon)
• Me voy a la cama a las 11 de la noche (I go to bed at 11 at night)

Quarter Past, Half Past, Quarter To

Pattern	Meaning	Example
y cuarto	quarter past	Son las ocho y cuarto (it’s quarter past eight)
y media	half past	Son las ocho y media (it’s half past eight)
menos cuarto	quarter to	Son las ocho menos cuarto (it’s quarter to eight)

How to Ask the Time

• ¿Qué hora es? (what time is it?)
• ¿Tienes hora? (have you got the time?)

Watches and Clocks

Both a watch and a clock are un reloj. When you need to be specific:

• Reloj de pulsera (wristwatch)
• Reloj de pared (wall clock)
• Reloj de pie (grandfather clock)

The hands are manecillas or agujas — and each one has its own name:

• Manecilla de las horas (hour hand)
• Manecilla de los minutos / minutero (minute hand)
• Manecilla de los segundos / segundero (second hand)

Time Vocabulary Natives Actually Use

Expression	Meaning	Example
sobre las / a eso de las	around	Llego sobre las 8 (I’ll arrive around 8)
en punto / clavadas	bang on, exactly	Llegó a las 8 clavadas (she arrived bang on 8)
y pico / y algo	just after	Llegó a las 8 y pico (she arrived just after 8)
en sentido horario / en el sentido de las agujas del reloj	clockwise	Gíralo en sentido horario (turn it clockwise)
en sentido antihorario / en sentido contrario a las agujas del reloj	anticlockwise	Gíralo en sentido antihorario (turn it anticlockwise)
tener prisa	to be in a hurry	Tengo prisa (I’m in a hurry)

The Patterns to Leave With

Four rules cover almost every sentence in this post: the time always takes ser, and it’s plural — son las — except at one o’clock, when it’s es la. In the past, it’s always the imperfect: eran las 9, never fueron. Pin an hour to a part of the day with de la (a las 8 de la mañana), but go vague with por la (por la tarde). And when it’s 3am, say de la madrugada — reaching for that word instead of la mañana is one of the quickest ways to sound like a native.