How to say the date in Spanish?

To give the date, you must already know the days of the week and the months of the year.

The days of the week

Lunes (Monday)
Martes (Tuesday)
Miércoles (Wednesday)
Jueves (Thursday)
Viernes (Friday)
Sábado (Saturday)
Domingo (Sunday)

The months of the year

Enero (January)
Febrero (February)
Marzo (March)
Abril (April)
Mayo (May)
Junio (June)
Julio (July)
Agosto (August)
Septiembre (September)
Octubre (October)
Noviembre (November)
Deciembre (December)

How to give the date

We can express the date by giving:

the day + “a” + a cardinal number + “de” + the month + “de” + the year :

• Jueves a 23 de Julio de 2020 (Thursday 23 July 2020)

Here is also another way to give the date:

day + “,” + cardinal number + “de” + month + “de” + year:

• Jueves, 23 de Julio de 2020

How to tell the time in Spanish?

To answer the question “¿Qué hora es?” (What time is it?) in Spanish, we use the formula :

Es la (or son las) + the time

Note 1 : Whether it is 4:00 in the morning or 4:00 in the afternoon, the translation of the date is the same: “Son las cuatro”.

However, the sentence must be clarified by using one of the following formulas:

“de la mañana” (of the morning)

OR

“de la tarde” (afternoon)

OR

“de la noche” (evening)

• Son las cuatro de la mañana. (It’s 4 a.m.)
• Son las cuatro de la tarde. (It’s 4:00 p.m.)

Note 2 : “Es la” is only used for 1:00 pm.

• Es la una. (It’s 1:00 p.m.)
• Es la una de la tarde. (It’s 1:00 p.m.)
• Es la una de la mañana. (It’s 1 a.m.)

Now let’s see how to express the minutes.

If the time is right, we will use the expression “en punto” :

• Son las cuatro en punto. (It is 4:00 am or 4:00 pm sharp).

For the rest, it is enough to identify on a clock the position of the minute hand (i.e. whether it is on the right side (between 0 and 6 o’clock) or on the left side (between 6 and 12)).

Between 0 and 6 hours, “y” is used:

• Son las tres y diez. (It is 3:10 am/pm)
• Es la una y cuarto. (It is 1:15 am/pm)
• Son las cinco y media. (It is 5:30 am/pm)

Between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m., we use “menos”:

• Son las tres menos veinte. (It is twenty minutes to three = 14:40).
• Es la una menos cuarto. (It’s a quarter to one = 12:45).

Here are also two useful expressions:

• Es mediodía. (It’s noon).
• Es medianoche. (It’s midnight).

 

👉 Next lesson: Comparative Sentences

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