son las dos
/son las dos/from spelling rules
In Spanish, "it is two o'clock" is said as son las dos.
This phrase is used to state that the current time is two o'clock. To specify the time of day, you can add phrases after the time: de la mañana (in the morning), de la tarde (in the afternoon) or de la noche (at night). If you want to say it is exactly two o'clock, you can use en punto.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase literally translates to "they are the two", reflecting the Spanish grammatical structure where hours (plural) are treated as plural subjects.
Which one should you use?
Unlike English, which uses the singular "it is", Spanish uses the plural son las for all hours except one.
How does it change in a sentence?
In Spanish, you should use son with the plural article las when telling the time.
How do you pronounce it?
/son las dos/
Did you know?
- In some Spanish-speaking cultures, telling someone son las dos in the afternoon may be interpreted as a hint that it is time for a siesta.
- While son las dos tells the time, the word son can also mean 'sounds' in Spanish, as in the context of a musical sound.
- The word dos shares a common ancestor with the English word 'two', both tracing back to the Proto-Indo-European root *dwóh₁. This makes the two words distant linguistic cousins.
Examples in context
- Son las dos de la mañana.It is two o'clock in the morning.This sentence is useful for specifying that it is two o'clock in the morning using son las dos.Tatoeba #2131425 by Shishir, translation #676534 by CC
- Son las dos de la tarde.It is two o'clock in the afternoon.
- Mira el reloj, ya son las dos.Look at the clock, it is already two o'clock.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Alejandro and Lucía are meeting for coffee.
- Alejandro¿Sabes qué hora es?Do you know what time it is?
- LucíaSí, son las dos exactamente.Yes, it is exactly two o'clock.
- Alejandro¡Qué rápido pasa el tiempo!How fast time flies!
- LucíaEs verdad, Alejandro.It's true, Alejandro.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries dos, las, son, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
