Learn the grammar of the Spanish language.

Telling Time

The verb ser -- to be is used to tell time. Es and son are the two forms used.

Look at the following table:

Es	la	una	y/menos	uno dos tres... cuarto dieciséis diecisiete... media
Son	las	dos tres cuatro cinco seis siete ocho nueve diez once doce	y/menos	uno dos tres... cuarto dieciséis diecisiete... media

Y -- and, indicates past the hour, while menos -- less, minus, indicates to the hour.

Es is used with all one o'clock phrases:

Es la una -- It is one o'clock
Es la una y cuarto -- It is one and a quarter = It is quarter past one
Es la una menos cuarto -- It is one minus a quarter = It is a quarter to one

Son is used with all other times:

Son las dos y media -- It is two o'clock
Son las dos y media -- It is two and a half = It is half past two/two thirty
Son las tres menos veinte -- It is three minus twenty = It is twenty to three/two forty

Instead of using "a.m." or "p.m.", Spanish uses the words in the morning/afternoon/evening, etc.:

A las siete de la mañana -- At 7:00 a.m.
A las seis de la tarde -- At 6:00 p.m.
A las once de la noche -- At 11:00 p.m.
A las tres de la madrugada -- At 3:00 a.m.

Mediodía is midday and medianoche is midnight.

Many Spanish-speaking countries use the 24-hour clock, especially for travel and entertainment:

El tren sale a las 22:00 -- The train leaves at 10:00 p.m.
La película empieza a las 20:00 -- The movies starts at 8:00 p.m.

A eso de and sobre mean around or about:

A eso de las tres -- Around three o'clock
Sobre las nueve -- About nine o'clock