la hora del día
/la oɾa del dia/from spelling rules
In Spanish, the phrase for "the time of day" is la hora del día.
This phrase refers to the specific hour or period when something occurs during a twenty-four hour cycle. To specify periods of the day, you can use de la mañana for "in the morning" or de la madrugada for the early morning or the time before dawn, specifically from 12:00 AM to 5:59 AM.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of la hora (the hour), del (of the) and día (day).
How does it change in a sentence?
When discussing time, you may use the structure Son las + hour + menos + minutes to indicate the number of minutes remaining until the next hour. Related time units include minuto (minute), segundo (second), hora (hour), día (day), semana (week), mes (month) and año (year).
Did you know?
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, la hora de la siesta is a traditional time of day reserved for a nap and a break from work.
- In Spanish, the phrase dar la hora means 'to tell the time' or 'to chime', as if the clock is physically giving the time to the listener.
- The Spanish word hora is a direct descendant of the Latin hōra, which was borrowed from the Ancient Greek word ὥρᾱ.
Examples in context
- Subieron a la pequeña habitación, donde todo se veía como antes. El viejo reloj iba haciendo "tictac, tictac", y las manecillas señalaban la hora del día, pero al pasar por la puerta de la habitación se dieron cuenta de que ambos eran adultos y se habían convertido en un hombre y una mujer.They went upstairs into the little room, where all looked just as it used to do. The old clock was going "tick, tick," and the hands pointed to the time of day, but as they passed through the door into the room they perceived that they were both grown up, and become a man and woman.This sentence shows how to use la hora del día when describing the hands of a clock pointing to a specific time.Tatoeba #5822015 by albrusgher, translation #3754655 by Hybrid
- Son las tres y diezIt's three ten.
- Entrevista importante a las cuatro y media.Important interview at four-thirty.
- La reunión comienza a las nueve en punto.The meeting starts at nine o'clock on the dot.
- Es la unaIt's one o'clock.
- Son las dos menos veinteIt's twenty minutes to two.
- Vamos a encontrarnos a las nueve y media.Let's meet at half past nine.
- Generalmente me despierto a las ocho.I usually wake up at eight.
- ¿Qué tal si nos vemos a las cuatro menos cuarto?How about we meet at a quarter to four?
- La película comienza a las diez de la noche.The movie starts at ten o'clock at night.
- Salimos temprano, a las seis de la mañana.We're leaving early, at six o'clock in the morning.
- No me importa la hora del día para entrenar.I don't care about the time of day for training.
Example conversation
Javier and Lucía are discussing when to go for a walk.
- Javier¿A qué hora vamos al parque, Lucía?What time are we going to the park, Lucía?
- LucíaPrefiero ir cuando cambie la hora del día.I prefer to go when the time of day changes.
- JavierEntonces podemos ir al atardecer.Then we can go at sunset.
- LucíaMe parece perfecto, Javier.That sounds perfect, Javier.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries del, día, hora, la, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
