La hora – Telling the time

Telling the time in Spanish can be a challenge, since the conventions of “a quarter past,” “half past”, “mid-day” and “twenty to – ” are used, rather than speaking in digital terms such as 10:22, 11:45, etc.

El reloj = the clock

How do we ask and answer questions about the time?

For the question, use  ES. For the answer, use SON (except for “una” or 1 o’clock).
Example:  ¿Qué hora es?  (What hour or time is it?)
Son las ocho. (It’s 8 o’clock) or Es la una y diez. (It is one and ten or ten past one or 1:10.)

Note that up until the 30 minute mark (y media or half past), we say “y cinco,” “y veinte,” etc. “Y” pronounced like E in English means AND. After 30 minutes we say the time that is coming up next MINUS (menos in Spanish) the number of minutes. This is very much like saying “it’s 20 to 3:00” or “it’s a quarter til 5:00”. Remember to say “cuarto” for a quarter. Careful – cuarto (quarter) is similar to cuatro (four)!

La tarea – homework this week:  Leccion 9 La hora

On the reverse of the homework page, you will need to look at the map and see what time zone each city is located in.

For example, ¿Qué hora es en Nueva York (New York)?   Son las siete de la mañana. (It’s 7 o’clock in the morning.) New York is in time zone 6, but Buenos Aires is in time zone 8 (two hours later than New York!). Guatemala is in time zone 5 (1 hour earlier than New York).  La ciudad de México is also in time zone 5. Los Angeles is in time zone 3, 3 hours earlier than New York. Brasilia is in time zone 8 – same as Buenos Aires.

 

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