¿A qué hora cierran?
To ask a shop "when do you close?" in Spanish, say ¿A qué hora cierran?
¿A qué hora cierran? asks a shop, restaurant or office what time it closes. It is literally at what time do you close.
What does it mean word for word?
A qué hora means at what time and cierran means you close or they close.
How does it change in a sentence?
cierran is plural, because you are asking about the staff or the business as a whole.
Did you know?
- In many Spanish-speaking countries, businesses may have a 'siesta' period, meaning they might close in the middle of the afternoon and reopen later in the evening.
- While ¿A qué hora cierran? is common, you might hear ¿A qué hora cierran el local?, where local refers to the physical premises rather than the business entity.
- The word hora is inherited from the Latin hōra, which came from the Ancient Greek word ὥρᾱ meaning 'hour' or 'season'.
Example conversation
Lucía is calling a local bakery to check their hours.
- LucíaHola, ¿a qué hora cierran?Hello, what time do you close?
- JavierCerramos a las ocho de la tarde.We close at eight in the evening.
- LucíaPerfecto, iré antes de esa hora.Perfect, I will go before that time.
- JavierMuy bien, Lucía, hasta pronto.Very well, Lucía, see you soon.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries A, a, hora, qué, CC BY-SA 4.0.
