las doce
/las doθe/from spelling rules
Twelve o'clock in Spanish is las doce.
las doce is used to denote the time of day when the clock hands point to twelve. Similar to English, it can refer to both noon and midnight. If you want to be more specific than just saying the number, you can use el mediodía for noon or la medianoche for midnight.
How does it change in a sentence?
When you want to say 'at' twelve o'clock, you must use the preposition a followed by the article las to form a las doce. The number doce is fixed and does not change its form based on gender.
How do you pronounce it?
/las doθe/
Did you know?
- The number doce is a linguistic relative of the English word 'dozen'. Both words trace their ancestry back to the same way ancient people counted in groups of ten plus two.
- The phrase las doce uses a feminine plural article because it is actually a shorthand for las doce horas, meaning 'the twelve hours'.
- In some Spanish-speaking cultures, las doce is the traditional time to start the siesta, a midday nap or break.
Examples in context
- Son casi las doce.It's almost twelve o'clock.This sentence uses las doce to indicate that it is almost twelve o'clock.Tatoeba #776403 by Shishir, translation #10195316 by CK
- Almorcé a las doce.I had lunch at twelve o'clock.This sentence uses las doce to show that lunch was eaten at twelve o'clock.Tatoeba #13704782 by ecorralest101, translation #13704778 by Babelball
- Son las doce.It's twelve o'clock.This sentence uses las doce to state that it is currently twelve o'clock.Tatoeba #2717718 by cueyayotl, translation #2714679 by captcrouton
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
A coworker asks a colleague about a scheduled meeting.
- María¿A qué hora es la reunión?What time is the meeting?
- JavierEs a las doce.It is at twelve o'clock.
- MaríaGracias por la información, Javier.Thanks for the information, Javier.
- JavierDe nada, María.You're welcome, María.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries doce, las, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
