This document provides instructions for telling time in Spanish. It explains how to say the time for each minute from 0-59 past each hour using terms like "o'clock", "past", "quarter", "half", and "to". Examples are given for times like 7:00, 10:15, 12:30, 9:37, and 11:55 to demonstrate how to express the time in Spanish. The document was created by Sandrine Lafontant Diaz for distance education and credits the Tecnológico Nacional de México.

1. Elaborado por:
Sandrine Lafontant Diaz
Educación a Distancia

2. What time is it? (qué hora es)
When is the …? (cuando es la…)
At what time is…? ( a qué hora es…)

3. It is…. (son las)
For example: It is eight o’clock.
(Son las ocho en punto)
… at … (a las)
For example: The movie starts at eight o´clock.
(la película empieza a las ocho en punto)

4. When the
hour has no
minutes we
use O’CLOCK.
For example:
7:00 = seven o´clock
10:00 = ten o´clock
12:00 = twelve o’clock

5. From the minute to 30
minutes past the hour
we use : PAST
MINUTES + PAST + HOUR
For example:
It is five past two (son
las 2:05)

6. When it is 15 minutes past
the time we say: A QUARTER.
For example:
7:15 = a quarter past seven
10:15 = a quarter past ten
12:15 = a quarter past twelve

7. For other minutes past the
hour we only use the exact
amount of minutes.
For example:
7:20 = twety past seven
10:20 = twenty past ten
12:20 = twenty past twelve

8. When it is 30 minutes past
the time we say: HALF.
For example:
7:30 = half past seven
10:30 = half past ten
12:30 = half past twelve

9. From the minute 31 to
the minutes 59 past the
hour we use : TO. We
count how many minutes
are left before the next
hour.
MINUTES + TO + NEXT HOUR
For example:
It is five to two (son las 1:55)

10. Here we will count how much
minutes are left before the
next hour.
For example:
9:37 = It’s twenty three to ten

11. When it is 45 minutes past
the time we say: A QUARTER
TO.
For example:
7:45 = It’s fifteen to eight.

12. Here we will count how much
minutes are left before the
next hour.
For example:
11:55 = It’s five to twelve.

13. Créditos
Tecnológico nacional de México
Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de
Cuautitlán Izcalli
Coordinación del Área de
Educación a Distancia