fecha y hora
/fet͡ʃa i oɾa/from spelling rules
The English phrase 'date and time' is translated into Spanish as fecha y hora.
In Spanish, the phrase fecha y hora refers to the date and time. When discussing specific times of day, you can use de la mañana for the morning, de la tarde for the afternoon or de la noche for the night. Specific points in the day like mediodía (noon) and medianoche (midnight) are also used. To express time in quarter-hour increments, you can use the word cuarto. For example, Son las 2 y cuarto means It's 2:15 and Son las 5 y media means It's 5:30. To denote that it is a certain time, the phrase son las is used, as in Son las 8 y cuarto de la mañana (It's 8:15 in the morning). To say it is midnight, you can use Es medianoche.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of fecha (date), y (and) and hora (hour/time).
How does it change in a sentence?
When referring to specific, definite instances of 'the date and the time' in a sentence, you should use the definite articles la and la before each noun, resulting in la fecha y la hora.
How do you pronounce it?
/fetʃa i oɾa/
Did you know?
- The word fecha shares its roots with the English word 'fact', as both stem from the Latin 'facta', meaning 'things done'.
- In many Spanish-speaking countries, the fecha is written in the order of day, month and year. Using the US format of month, day and year can lead to significant scheduling errors.
- The word hora shares an ancient ancestor with the Greek word hṓrā, which originally referred to a 'season' or a 'suitable time' rather than a strict 60-minute block.
Examples in context
- Necesito confirmar la fecha y hora de la reunión.I need to confirm the date and time of the meeting.
- ¿Podría indicarme la fecha y hora de salida?Could you tell me the date and time of departure?
- Por favor, escriba la fecha y hora en el formulario.Please write the date and time on the form.
Example conversation
Lucía is asking Mateo for details about a flight reservation.
- LucíaMateo, ¿tienes la fecha y hora del vuelo?Mateo, do you have the date and time of the flight?
- MateoSí, Lucía, es el lunes a las diez.Yes, Lucía, it is Monday at ten.
- LucíaPerfecto, voy a anotarlo ahora mismo.Perfect, I am going to write it down right now.
- MateoMuy bien, avísame si necesitas algo más.Very well, let me know if you need anything else.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries fecha, hora, y, CC BY-SA 4.0.
