decir la hora
/deθiɾ la oɾa/from spelling rules
In Spanish, telling time is decir la hora.
The phrase is used to describe the act of stating what time of day it is. When telling the time itself, you can use several specific expressions: y media for half past the hour, y cuarto for quarter past the hour and menos cuarto for quarter to the hour. To express minutes that are not multiples of five, place the word minutos after the number. You can also use menos to express the time 'to' the next hour. For specific times of day, mediodía is used for noon and medianoche is used for midnight.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase decir la hora literally translates to 'to say the hour'.
How do you pronounce it?
/deθiɾ la oɾa/
Did you know?
- In many Spanish-speaking countries, if you ask for the time and the person doesn't have a watch, they might reply no tengo hora. This literally means 'I don't have hour', rather than 'I don't have a watch'.
- While English speakers ask 'What time is it?', some Spanish speakers say ¿Qué hora tienes?, which literally asks 'What hour do you have?'
- While decir la hora is standard, people in Spain often use the verb dar meaning 'to give' when describing a clock striking. They might say el reloj da las doce to describe a clock striking twelve.
Examples in context
- Son las dosIt's two o'clock
- Son las cinco y mediaIt's half past five
- Son las cuatro y cuartoIt's quarter past four
- Son las nueve menos cuartoIt's a quarter to nine
- Es mediodíaIt's noon
- Es medianocheIt's midnight
- Son las dos menos diezIt's ten minutes to two
- Son las ocho y veinteIt's twenty past eight
- Son las tres y diez minutosIt's ten minutes past three
- No sé decir la hora.I don't know how to tell the time.
- No sé si ella sabe decir la hora correctamente.I don't know if she knows how to tell the time correctly.
- El ejercicio consiste en decir la hora en español.The exercise consists of telling the time in Spanish.
Example conversation
Sofía and Daniel are studying for a Spanish exam.
- Sofía¿Sabes cómo se dice esto en español?Do you know how to say this in Spanish?
- DanielSí, es el ejercicio de decir la hora.Yes, it is the exercise for telling the time.
- Sofía¡Perfecto! Daniel, eres un gran profesor.Perfect! Daniel, you are a great teacher.
- DanielGracias, Sofía. Solo intento ayudar.Thanks, Sofía. I'm just trying to help.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
