Translate to Spanish:
an hour
una hora
hour - la hora
Translate to Spanish:
a half-hour / half an hour
media hora
half (adj.) - medio.
e.g. I’m half Mexican - Soy medio mexicano.
Translate to Spanish:
a minute
un minuto
Translate to Spanish:
two minutes & ten seconds
dos minutos y diez segundos
a second - un segundo
Translate to Spanish:
It’s one o’clock.
Es la una.
In Spanish, there’s no word for “o’clock”. We just say that it is the feminine form of the number.
Translate to Spanish:
It’s three o’clock.
Son las tres.
Note how when it’s any time except 1 o’clock, we use son instead of es, since the number of hours is plural.
Translate to Spanish:
It’s five thirty.
Son las cinco y media.
Literally “It’s five and a half.” This is how they say half hours in Spanish. (e.g. “It’s 1:30” - Es la una y media.)
Translate to Spanish:
It’s 11am in the morning.
Son las once de la mañana.
eleven - once
Translate to Spanish:
It’s 12:30.
Son las doce y media.
twelve - doce
Translate to Spanish:
It’s noon.
Es mediodía.
Literally “it’s midday.”
Translate to Spanish:
It’s midnight.
Es medianoche.
Translate to Spanish:
What time is it?
¿Qué hora es?
Note that in this case, la hora means “time” (as if you’re saying “What hour is it?”).
There are other contexts of the English word “time” that translate differently in Spanish, as we’ll study separately.
[What is being said in the audio recording?]
Hombre: ¿Cuándo?
Mujer: A las 4 de la tarde.
Translation: “When?” / “At 4 in the afternoon”.
Note that we use the word “a” to refer to “at”, in this case. (e.g. “At midnight” - a medianoche.)
Translate to Spanish:
now
ahora
Caution: In some Spanish-speaking countries, ahora can also just mean “now-ish”, encompassing the time even for the next few hours.
(Maybe this is why the Latin culture is famously late all the time :)
Translate to Spanish:
a long time
mucho tiempo
Literally “much time” or “a lot of time”. Note how in this case, when describing time more generally, “time” translates to el tiempo rather than la hora.
(El tiempo also refers to the weather. Spanish synonyms are weird.)
Translate to Spanish:
It’s late.
Es tarde.
late - tarde.
Yes, this adjective is the same word as the noun for “afternoon”, just without the article la.
Translate to Spanish:
later
luego / más tarde
Note that luego is just a single adverb that means “later” (in general), whereas más tarde is a compound phrase that translates directly to “more late” (and typically refers to a later time that same day).
Translate to Spanish:
It’s early.
Es temprano.
early - temprano
[What is being said in the audio recording?]
Hombre: ¿Cuándo - ahora?
Mujer: Sí, pronto.
Translation: “When - now?” / “Yes, soon.”
Remember that pronto means “soon”.
[What is being said in the audio recording?]
Mujer: ¿Cuándo - ahora?
Hombre: No, luego. ¡Esta noche!
Translation: “When - now?” / “No, later. Tonight!”
