¡Hola!
In our last Spanish class we looked at how to tell time. We focussed on asking for and giving the time on the hour, quarter past the hour and half past the hour. Today we’ll look at:
- minutes after the hour
- minutes to the hour
- scheduling
To express other minutes after the hour (besides quarter and half past), use the normal cardinal numbers (one, two, three etc.)

Por ejemplo “ Son las tres y cinco” It is 3.05

To state the number of minutes before the coming hour, give the next hour less (menos) the number of minutes to go before that hour.
Ejemplo: Es la una menos ocho: It is 8 minutes to 1. The literal translation is: It is 1 o’clock minus 8 minutes (12:52)
It’s time to check in with Señor Jordan once again. Have a look at his video on telling time using the menos method featured today. He also does a quick recap of some of the work we did in our last lesson on time.
You practice now
Look at the following clocks and try to say the time shown. Check your answers after and let me know how you did in the comments below.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..Respuestas: 1. Son las tres menos veinticinco 2. Son las once menos diez 3. Son las siete y veinte 4. Son las dos y cinco 5. Son las tres y diez 6. Son las diez y media.
More Vocabulary
A good way to practice your new ability to tell time is to apply it to your daily routine to be able to say at what time you do various activities.
Activity | Translation | Activity with a Time Expression |
Yo me levanto | I wake up | Yo me levanto a las seis de la mañana |
Yo desayuno (desayunar) | I have (I eat) breakfast | Yo desayuno por la mañana |
Yo voy a la escuela/al trabajo/ la universidad | I go to school/ work/ university | Yo voy a la escuela/al trabajo/ la universidad a las nueve |
Yo conduzco (conducir) | I drive | Yo conduzco por la mañana |
Yo almuerzo (almorzar) | I have (I eat) lunch | Yo almuerzo a mediodía |
Yo regreso a la oficina (regresar) | I return to the office | Yo regreso a la oficina a las dos de la tarde |
Yo estudio (estudiar) | I study | Yo estudio por la tarde |
Yo hago la tarea (los deberes) | I do my homework | Yo hago la tarea a las ocho |
Yo regreso a la casa | I return home | Yo regreso a la casa a las ocho y media |
Yo ceno (cenar) | I have (I eat) dinner | Yo ceno a las nueve y cuarto de la tarde |
Yo miro la television | I watch tv | Yo miro la television por la noche |
Yo duermo (dormir) | I sleep | Yo duermo a las once |
*The words in brackets in column 1 are the infinitive form of the verbs used.
*In column three I have added the ‘time expression’ with the activity. Between today’s lesson and Part One of ¿Qué Hora Es? you should be able to figure out what it means.
Hurry Up!

Now that you know how to tell time, ask for the time and say when something is happening, hopefully you will be on time too!
Hasta Luego
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