son las tres
/son las tɾes/from spelling rules
To say "it is three o'clock" in Spanish, use son las tres.
Son las tres is used to state that the current time is three o'clock. In some Spanish-speaking countries, you may also use the 24-hour clock format Son las quince horas to mean "it is fifteen hours".
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase literally translates to "they are the three". This reflects how Spanish treats hours as plural feminine nouns.
Which one should you use?
Use son las tres for 3:00, but note that you must use es la una when it is 1:00.
How does it change in a sentence?
The feminine article las is used because hours in Spanish are feminine nouns.
How do you pronounce it?
/son las tɾes/
Did you know?
- While son las tres tells the time, the word son is also the Spanish word for 'sons'. Depending on the context, a sentence could mean 'it is three o'clock' or 'they are the sons'.
- The word tres is a direct descendant of the Proto-Indo-European word tréyes, making it a very distant relative of the English word 'three'.
- In Spanish, the word tres is used in the phrase a tres bandas to describe something being attacked or pressured from three different directions.
Examples in context
- ¿Qué hora es? Son las tres.What time is it? It is three o'clock.
- Mira el reloj, son las tres.Look at the clock, it is three o'clock.
- No puedo creer que ya son las tres.I cannot believe it is already three o'clock.
- Exactamente son las tres en punto.It is exactly three o'clock on the dot.
Example conversation
Lucía and Mateo are studying at a cafe.
- Lucía¿Sabes qué hora es, Mateo?Do you know what time it is, Mateo?
- MateoSí, son las tres.Yes, it is three o'clock.
- Lucía¡Qué rápido pasa el tiempo!How fast time flies!
- MateoEs verdad, Lucía, debemos irnos.It's true, Lucía, we should go.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries las, son, tres, CC BY-SA 4.0.
