Telling the time

Learn how to tell the time in Spanish.

The 24-hour clock is widely used in Spanish, although the 12-hour clock is also common, particularly in less formal situations.

Asking the time

¿qué hora es?what's the time?
¿me podría decir la hora, por favor?could you tell me the time, please?
¿tiene usted hora?do you have the time?
¿sabe usted qué hora es?do you know what time it is?

Telling the time

es ...it's ... (the singular form, used when the hour part of the time is one o’clock, as well as at noon and midnight)
son ...it's ... (the plural form, used for all other times)
exactamente ...exactly ...
aproximadamente ...about ...
casi ...almost ...
justo ... pasadajust gone ... (when the hour part of the time is one o’clock)
justo ... pasadasjust gone ... (used at all other times)
la una en puntoone o'clock
las dos en puntotwo o'clock
la una y cuartoquarter past one
las dos y cuartoquarter past two
la una y mediahalf past one
las dos y mediahalf past two
las dos menos cuartoquarter to two
las tres menos cuartoquarter to three
la una y cincofive past one
la una y diezten past one
la una y veintetwenty past one
la una y veinticincotwenty-five past one
las dos menos cincofive to two
las dos menos diezten to two
las dos menos veintetwenty to two
las dos menos veinticincotwenty-five to two
las diez y cuartoten fifteen
las diez y mediaten thirty
las diez y cuarenta y cincoten forty-five
las diez de la mañanaten am
las seis de la tardesix pm
mediodíanoon
medianochemidnight

It's also possible to state the time in Spanish by saying the hour followed by the minutes, followed by “de la mañana” or “de la tarde” if necessary, eg:

11:32 de la mañana11.32am
2:17 de la tarde2.17pm

Clocks

mi reloj está ...my watch is ...
adelantadofast
atrasadoslow
ese reloj está un poco ...that clock's a little ...
adelantadofast
atrasadoslow
sound

Sound is available for all the Spanish phrases on this page — simply click on any phrase to hear it.

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