This document provides instructions for telling time in Spanish. It explains how to say the time for each minute of the hour, including at o'clock, past, quarter past/to, half past, and to until the next hour. Examples are given for common times like 8:00, 8:15, 8:30, 8:45 showing how to say "son las ocho en punto", "es el cuarto para las ocho", "es medio para las ocho", "es un cuarto para las nueve" respectively. The document also explains how to count the minutes left before the next hour for times between 31-59 minutes past such as "faltan 23 minutos para las

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.