Time and Dates in Spanish

In Brief

Use Es la una for one o’clock and Son las... for every other hour: Son las tres y media. Spanish days and months are normally lowercase. Dates use a cardinal number (the ordinary counting number) between the article el and de: el 15 de agosto.

Overview

Time and dates are an A1 essential: you need them to arrange a meeting, understand opening hours, buy a ticket, or say when you work. The basic patterns are short, but they differ from English in useful ways. Spanish says, in effect, “It is the one” and “They are the two,” includes the feminine article la/las because the understood word is hora, and usually puts the day before the month.

You will also meet two questions that should be learned as complete expressions: ¿Qué hora es? asks what time it is, while ¿A qué hora...? asks at what time something happens. The preposition a matters in both the question and the answer: ¿A qué hora sales? Salgo a las seis.

Days and months are not capitalized merely because they are calendar names. Spanish also uses an article—el or los—where English normally uses “on”: el lunes (“on Monday”) and los lunes (“on Mondays”).

How It Works

Asking for and giving the time

The core question is:

• ¿Qué hora es? — What time is it?

For one o’clock, use singular es and la:

• Es la una. — It is one o’clock.

For all other hours, use plural son and las:

• Son las dos. — It is two o’clock.
• Son las doce. — It is twelve o’clock.

This agreement follows the number of hours: one hour is singular; two or more are plural. Do not copy the English all-purpose “it is.”

To add minutes after the hour, use y (“and”).

Pattern	Spanish	English
exact hour	Son las cuatro en punto.	It is four o’clock exactly.
hour + minutes	Son las cuatro y diez.	It is 4:10.
quarter past	Son las cuatro y cuarto.	It is quarter past four.
half past	Son las cuatro y media.	It is half past four.

Media is feminine because it stands for media hora (“half an hour”). Therefore, say y media, not y medio, when telling time.

For the latter part of an hour, a common pattern—especially in Spain—is the next hour + menos (“minus”):

Clock time	With menos	Also possible numerically
4:40	Son las cinco menos veinte.	Son las cuatro y cuarenta.
4:45	Son las cinco menos cuarto.	Son las cuatro y cuarenta y cinco.
4:55	Son las cinco menos cinco.	Son las cuatro y cincuenta y cinco.

Both styles are understandable. Digital-style readings such as cuatro cuarenta or cuatro y cuarenta are widespread, and preferences vary by region and situation.

Saying when something happens

Use a la before one o’clock and a las before every other hour:

• La clase empieza a la una. — The class starts at one.
• La clase empieza a las nueve. — The class starts at nine.
• ¿A qué hora sales? — What time do you leave?

Notice the contrast:

Meaning	Question	Answer
current clock time	¿Qué hora es?	Son las siete.
time of an event	¿A qué hora empieza?	Empieza a las siete.

To identify a part of the day, add:

• de la mañana — in the morning / a.m.
• de la tarde — in the afternoon or early evening
• de la noche — at night or later in the evening

For example, Son las ocho de la mañana is 8:00 a.m., while Son las ocho de la noche is 8:00 p.m. The boundaries between tarde and noche depend on local habits, daylight, and context; they are not fixed divisions of the clock.

Two useful fixed expressions are Es mediodía (“It is noon”) and Es medianoche (“It is midnight”). You can also hear Son las doce del mediodía and Son las doce de la noche.

Days of the week

Spanish	English
lunes	Monday
martes	Tuesday
miércoles	Wednesday
jueves	Thursday
viernes	Friday
sábado	Saturday
domingo	Sunday

Spanish calendar names normally begin with a lowercase letter: lunes, not Lunes. All the day names are masculine. Their articles therefore use el or los.

• el lunes — on Monday, usually one particular Monday
• los lunes — on Mondays, habitually
• cada lunes — every Monday

The forms ending in -s do not change in the plural: el lunes → los lunes, el martes → los martes. Sábado and domingo take a plural ending: los sábados, los domingos.

English inserts “on,” but Spanish normally uses the article directly: Nos vemos el martes. Do not add en before the day. A bare day is possible in headings, timetables, or short answers—¿Cuándo? Mañana, martes—but full sentences commonly use an article.

Months and seasons

Spanish	English	Spanish	English
enero	January	julio	July
febrero	February	agosto	August
marzo	March	septiembre	September
abril	April	octubre	October
mayo	May	noviembre	November
junio	June	diciembre	December

Months are also lowercase. After a date, use de before the month: el 15 de agosto. When merely locating an event within a month, en is usual: Viajo en agosto (“I travel in August”). Seasons behave similarly: en verano, en invierno.

Forming and asking for dates

The usual spoken and written order is day + de + month + de + year:

• el 15 de agosto — August 15th
• el 15 de agosto de 2026 — August 15, 2026

Spanish normally uses cardinal numbers for dates: el dos, el quince, el treinta. For the first day of a month, el primero de mayo is common, especially in Latin America, while el uno de mayo is also used and is particularly common in Spain. You do not generally use ordinals such as “the fifteenth”: say el quince, not el decimoquinto.

Common questions and answers include:

• ¿Qué día es hoy? — Hoy es lunes. — What day is it today? — Today is Monday.
• ¿A cuántos estamos? — Estamos a 15 de agosto. — What is today’s date? — It is August 15.
• ¿Cuál es la fecha de hoy? — Es el 15 de agosto. — What is today’s date? — It is August 15.

In ordinary identification after ser, the weekday may appear without an article: Hoy es lunes. For an event date, the article is normal: La reunión es el lunes.

Numeric dates can be ambiguous internationally. 03/04/2026 normally means 3 April 2026 in Spanish-speaking contexts, not March 4. Writing the month as a word avoids confusion.

Examples in Context

Spanish	English	Note
¿Qué hora es? — Es la una.	What time is it? — It is one o’clock.	Singular only with one
Son las tres y media.	It is half past three.	Media means half an hour
Son las seis y cuarto.	It is quarter past six.	Fifteen minutes after
Son las diez menos cuarto.	It is quarter to ten.	Literally “ten minus a quarter”
La película empieza a las ocho de la noche.	The movie starts at eight in the evening.	Event time uses a las
¿A qué hora sales del trabajo?	What time do you leave work?	Ask when an event occurs
El tren llega a la una y diez.	The train arrives at 1:10.	A la before one
Hoy es miércoles.	Today is Wednesday.	No article after hoy es
Nos vemos el lunes.	We’ll see each other on Monday.	One particular Monday
Los lunes trabajo desde casa.	On Mondays I work from home.	Plural article marks a routine
Mi cumpleaños es el 15 de agosto.	My birthday is August 15th.	Day + de + month
La conferencia es el 2 de octubre de 2026.	The conference is on October 2, 2026.	Full date
En julio hace mucho calor aquí.	It is very hot here in July.	En with a month
La oficina cierra al mediodía.	The office closes at noon.	Fixed time expression
¿Cuál es la fecha de hoy?	What is today’s date?	Direct question about the date

Common Mistakes

Using the plural pattern for one o’clock

• Wrong: Son las una.
• Right: Es la una.
• Why: One hour requires singular es la. All other numbered hours use son las.

Leaving out the preposition for an event time

• Wrong: La clase empieza las nueve.
• Right: La clase empieza a las nueve.
• Why: A means “at” here. It combines with the article: a la una, but a las nueve.

Copying English capitalization

• Wrong: Lunes, 15 de Agosto
• Right: lunes, 15 de agosto
• Why: Days and months are common nouns in Spanish and are normally lowercase, including in dates.

Adding en before a weekday

• Wrong: Nos vemos en el martes.
• Right: Nos vemos el martes.
• Why: The definite article itself normally expresses English “on” with a weekday.

Using a singular weekday for a repeated routine

• Awkward for the intended meaning: Trabajo el lunes. (“I work on Monday.”)
• Right for a routine: Trabajo los lunes. (“I work on Mondays.”)
• Why: The plural article and day clearly mark habitual repetition. The singular usually points to one Monday unless the wider context establishes a repeated schedule.

Translating an English date word for word

• Wrong: agosto el quince or el decimoquinto de agosto
• Right: el 15 de agosto / el quince de agosto
• Why: Spanish puts the day first and ordinarily uses a cardinal number, not an ordinal number.

Usage Notes

Twelve-hour and twenty-four-hour time

In everyday conversation, the twelve-hour system plus de la mañana/tarde/noche is common. The twenty-four-hour clock is frequent in transport schedules, official notices, healthcare, and other precise contexts. A written time such as 18:30 may be read formally as las dieciocho treinta or las dieciocho horas y treinta minutos; in casual conversation, many speakers simply say las seis y media de la tarde.

Spanish typography commonly writes digital times with a colon or a period depending on regional and editorial convention: 9:30 and 9.30 can both be encountered. Follow the local format of the document or service you are using.

Regional ways to count down to the next hour

The menos pattern is standard and especially associated with common usage in Spain. Across Latin America, speakers may favor reading the minutes directly (son las cuatro cuarenta y cinco) or use a construction with para or faltar, such as faltan quince para las cinco (“it is fifteen minutes to five”). Learn y cuarto, y media, and menos cuarto so you can understand them, but expect regional variety.

Articles with weekdays

Use el for a specific day and los for a repeated day as a reliable beginner rule. Context can make singular expressions habitual too—El lunes tengo clase, el martes trabajo... in a description of a weekly timetable—but los lunes is the clearest standalone equivalent of “on Mondays.” With cada, do not add an article: cada lunes, not cada el lunes.

Beyond the Basics: Precision and Style

You do not need to master these points at A1, but you will encounter them later.

Expressing duration and deadlines

Clock time uses a, but duration uses different structures:

• Trabajo de nueve a cinco. — I work from nine to five.
• La tienda está abierta desde las nueve hasta las seis. — The shop is open from nine until six.
• Llegaré dentro de diez minutos. — I will arrive in ten minutes.
• Termina antes de las ocho. — It finishes before eight.

This distinction prevents a common problem: a las ocho identifies a point in time; durante ocho horas describes a length of time.

Approximate time

Useful ways to avoid claiming exact precision include:

• sobre las ocho — around eight
• a eso de las ocho — at about eight
• hacia las ocho — toward/about eight

For minutes, y pico is colloquial and means “and a little more”: Eran las cinco y pico (“It was a little after five”).

Dates in formal writing

The full model 15 de agosto de 2026 is neutral and clear. A weekday may be added as lunes, 15 de agosto de 2026. In letters and documents, a place can precede the date: Madrid, 15 de agosto de 2026. Month names remain lowercase.

Years are said as full cardinal numbers: dos mil veintiséis. Spanish does not normally split a year into pairs in the English style “twenty twenty-six.” When referring to a decade, usage varies: los años ochenta is a safe, standard form for “the 1980s.”

Practice Tips

1. Build times from a clock face. Choose six random times each day. Say each first with minutes after the hour, then—when possible—with menos: 4:45 → las cuatro y cuarenta y cinco → las cinco menos cuarto.
2. Make a real weekly calendar. Write one specific plan with el and one routine with los for each relevant day: El viernes ceno con Ana; los viernes termino temprano. This makes the singular/plural contrast meaningful.
3. Read dates aloud, not only as digits. Convert entries such as 07/09/2026 into el siete de septiembre de dos mil veintiséis. Include primero/uno for the first day and always keep days and months lowercase.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Cardinal Numbers — numbers are needed to state hours, minutes, calendar days, and years.