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Telling the time with 'es la una' and 'son las tres'

To tell the time in Spanish you use the verb ser plus a feminine article in front of the number: es la una (it's one o'clock), son las tres (it's three o'clock). The article is feminine because the word hora is silently understood: la una is really la (hora) una. Minutes are then added with y or taken away with menos, and words like cuarto and media cover the quarter and half hours.

English speakers tend to trip up in three places. English says it is for every time, but Spanish switches to the plural son for any hour except one. English needs no article, so learners often drop la or las. And English counts minutes past or to the hour in a slightly different way from Spanish.

Word list
cincoA1 five son las cinco menos diez = it's ten to five cuatroA1 four son las cuatro y media = it's half past four diezA1 ten son las diez de la noche = it's 10 p.m. doceA1 twelve son las doce y media = it's half past twelve dosA1 two son las dos = it's two o'clock horafA1 time ¿qué hora es? = what time is it? horafA1 hour la (hora) una = one o'clock mañanafA1 morning las seis de la mañana = 6 a.m. medianochefA1 midnight es medianoche = it's midnight mediomA1 half las cuatro y media = half past four mediodíamA1 noon es mediodía = it's noon minutomA1 minute las seis y veinte = twenty past six nochefA1 night las diez de la noche = 10 p.m. nueveA1 nine a las nueve = at nine ochoA1 eight son las ocho y media = it's half past eight onceA1 eleven son las once = it's eleven o'clock seisA1 six a las seis = at six sieteA1 seven son las siete = it's seven o'clock tardefA1 afternoon las cinco de la tarde = 5 p.m. tresA1 three son las tres = it's three o'clock unoA1 one es la una = it's one o'clock menosA2 minus son las cinco menos diez = it's ten to five cuartomB1 quarter las dos y cuarto = quarter past two madrugadafB1 dawn las tres de la madrugada = 3 a.m.
How it works

The pattern is ser + la/las + hour. Only one o'clock is singular, because una is one hour. Every other hour is plural, because there are several hours: son las dos, son las once. The article agrees too: la una, but las cuatro.

Es la una.
(It's one o'clock.)
Ya son las tres, vamos a comer.
(It's already three o'clock, let's go and eat.)

Two questions use the word hora. ¿Qué hora es? asks what time it is now. ¿A qué hora...? asks when something happens, and the answer uses a plus the article, with no verb ser: a la una, a las nueve.

¿A qué hora abre el banco? Abre a las nueve.
(What time does the bank open? It opens at nine.)
The words
The hours

The numbers uno to doce give you the hours. Uno becomes feminine una and takes a singular verb. The others, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez, once and doce, all take son las. To say exactly on the hour, add en punto. To say around a time, use a eso de, as in a eso de las diez.

Son las siete y mi hermano todavía duerme.
(It's seven o'clock and my brother is still asleep.)
Quarters and halves

After the hour, add y cuarto for a quarter past and y media for half past. Media is the feminine form of medio, because it agrees with the hidden hora. Cuarto stays masculine.

Son las ocho y media.
(It's half past eight.)
La clase empieza a la una y cuarto.
(The class starts at a quarter past one.)
Minutes before the hour

After the half hour, Spanish usually counts down to the next hour with menos: first the coming hour, then menos, then the minutes. The word minuto is normally left out, so las seis y veinte is enough.

Son las cinco menos diez.
(It's ten to five.)
El tren sale a las tres menos cuarto.
(The train leaves at a quarter to three.)
Morning, afternoon and night

Spanish has no a.m. and p.m. Instead you add de la mañana, de la tarde or de la noche after a clock time. Without a clock time, use por: por la mañana means in the morning.

Me levanto a las seis de la mañana.
(I get up at six a.m.)
La película termina a las diez de la noche.
(The film ends at ten p.m.)
Watch out

The verb follows the hour, not the minutes. So es la una y media stays singular, even though more than one hour has passed. Son las doce y media stays plural. The same goes for es la una menos cuarto.

Todavía son las doce y media.
(It's still half past twelve.)

Mediodía and medianoche break the pattern. They take no la or las and they use a singular verb: es mediodía, a medianoche. Mediodía is also masculine.

Nos vemos a mediodía en la plaza.
(See you at noon in the square.)

Finally, never use mitad for the half hour. Mitad means half of something, like la mitad del pastel. On the clock it is always y media.

Summary

Say es la una for one o'clock and son las + number for every other hour, because the feminine article stands for the hidden word hora. Add minutes with y (y cuarto, y media) or count down with menos, and keep the verb matched to the hour. Use a la/a las to say when something happens, and remember that mediodía and medianoche take no article.