A1. ¿Qué hora es? - What time is it?
The first thing to know when telling the time in Spanish is that we always start with the hour, not the minutes.
Because the question is literally asking about ´the hour´ (la hora) we start with either:
1.
es la ... (when there is only one hour): es la una. (It´s 1 o´clock)
2.
son las... (any time except 1): son las dos, son las tres, son las cuatro etc...
El Señor Jordan es un profesor de español que tiene muchos videos para aprender y practicar español.
Clip 1
En este clip, el Señor Jordan explica cómo decir la hora en español (how to tell the time in Spanish) de manera sencilla.
We just read the time as shown on a digital clock, using the linker ´y´ (and)
Son las 10 y 20
Simple and straightforward.
Something to take into account:
1. El Señor Jordan habla un español latinoamericano (Remember the differences with the letter ´c´ in front of ´e´ and ´i´, the letter ´v´ and the letters ´j/g´ in front of ´e´ and ´i´)
2. The abbreviations ´pm´ and ´am´ might be used in Latin America but they are not used in Spain, where full expressions will be expected:
de la mañana
de la tarde
de la noche
Clip 2
On the second clip, we can see the common way to tell the time in Spain.
If you have to tell the time and you find the above (clip 1) easier, that is absolutely fine but it is important to be familiar with the ´menos´ structure (clip 2) in case you are told the time this way while visiting Spain.
Telling the time with ´menos´
Something to take into account:
1. El Señor Jordan shows you a formula for reading a digital clock:
After half past, go to the next hour and say how many minutes are left to reach it:
Son las 10 menos veinte
(it´s 10 take away 20)
(it´s 10 minus 20 minutes)
(it´s 20 to 10)
You can see, in fact, that we also do this small calculation when telling the time in English, although we start with the minutes instead of the hour: It´s 20 to 10.
2. If you read an analogue clock, the hands already point at the hour.
Son las cuatro menos 10
(it´s 4 take away 10)
(it´s 4 minus 10)
(it´s 10 minutes to 4)
