Telling time and days in Spanish,and planning in Bolivia
To ask the time in Spanish, say disculpe, ¿qué hora es? One o'clock is es la una; from two on, the hours are plural: son las dos, son las tres. To ask when something opens, say ¿a qué hora abre?, and the answer comes with a las: abre a las nueve. The days take el, as in el lunes, and los sábados means every Saturday. In Bolivia a morning slot is the safe choice for a meeting, the almuerzo, roughly 12:00 to 14:30, is protected time, and it pays to check for a feriado before you propose a day.
Every phrase comes from the lessons. Press play to hear it.
¿Qué hora es, por favor?What time is it, please?
Comemos a la una en mi casa.We eat at one at my house.
La reunión es a las ocho.The meeting is at eight.
¿A qué hora es la reunión?At what time is the meeting?
A las diez de la mañana.At ten in the morning.
El banco abre a las nueve.The bank opens at nine.
Trabajo de lunes a viernes.I work from Monday to Friday.
Los sábados no trabajo.I do not work on Saturdays.
Ojo, el lunes es feriado.Careful, Monday is a public holiday.
¿El viernes es feriado?Is Friday a public holiday?
How it works
The time,and at what time
¿Qué hora es?
What time is it? It asks the time right now; disculpe in front makes it polite with a stranger.
Es la una
It is one o'clock: the only singular hour, because there is one hour.
Son las dos
It is two o'clock. From two on, the hours are several: son las tres.
a las ocho
At eight: the hour something happens takes a las, and one o'clock takes a la una.
de la mañana
In the morning: it tells ten in the morning from ten at night.
The days of the week
el lunes
Monday, or on Monday: the days take el and no capital letter.
los sábados
On Saturdays, every week. El sábado is one particular Saturday.
de lunes a viernes
From Monday to Friday, with no article in between.
cuándo
When: it asks for the day. ¿A qué hora es? asks for the hour of that day.
Ojo
Careful, heads up: how people flag a public holiday, ojo, el lunes es feriado.
The rule card of lesson 12
Take off the ending,add the one that names who
Drop -ar, -er or -ir from the infinitive and put the ending for the person onto the stem that is left.
-ar goes -o, -as, -a, -amos, -an. -er goes -o, -es, -e, -emos, -en. -ir is the same as -er except for nosotros, which is -imos.
The yo form always ends in -o, whichever of the three groups the verb belongs to.
Trabajo cerca de mi casa.trabajar loses its -ar, and yo adds -o: trabajo.
Vivimos acá, pero comemos allá.-ir gives -imos and -er gives -emos: nosotros is the only place the two groups part ways.
In Bolivia
What the lessons tell you about doing it here.
Santa Cruz · Lesson 11
Morning meetings,and a protected lunch
For work calls and meetings, mornings usually beat afternoons, and the almuerzo, roughly from 12:00 to 14:30, is protected time: scheduling over it reads as tone-deaf. A morning slot, a las diez or a las once, is the safe choice.
Santa Cruz · Lesson 12
Ojo:check the feriados
Before you propose a day, check the calendar: Bolivia has national feriados, public holidays, and departmental ones too, and they catch planners out. Ojo, literally eye, is how people flag it: Ojo, el lunes es feriado.
Short dialogues
The chat that closes each lesson: what you hear, and the reply the lesson teaches.
CDoña Carmen, neighbourLesson 11
Buenos días, Ana. Disculpe, ¿qué hora es?Good morning, Ana. Excuse me, what time is it?
YouSon las ocho.
Gracias. ¿A qué hora abre la farmacia?Thank you. What time does the pharmacy open?
YouAbre a las nueve.
¿Y la clase de español?And the Spanish class?
YouLa clase es a la una.
Muchas gracias, Ana. Hasta luego.Thank you very much, Ana. See you later.
PProfesora Marta, Spanish teacherLesson 12
Buenos días, Ana. ¿Cuándo trabaja?Good morning, Ana. When do you work?
YouTrabajo de lunes a viernes.
La clase de español es el sábado.The Spanish class is on Saturday.
YouMuy bien. ¿A qué hora es?
A las diez de la mañana.At ten in the morning.
YouMuchas gracias. Hasta el sábado.
Hasta el sábado, Ana.See you on Saturday, Ana.
Practise it in a free lesson
Lessons 11 and 12 of Mi español teach exactly this, with short exercises and these dialogues.
Lesson 11 · {min} to {max} min Free account
What time is it?
Understand and say the time, ask someone the time politely, and ask at what time something starts or opens.
