The expression used in Spanish to ask the hour is:

¿Qué hora es?/What time is it?


Depending on singular or plural hour you can answer:

Es la una (en punto)./It's one o'clock.
Son las diez (en punto)./It's ten o'clock.


The feminine article (la, las) is always used before the hour meaning "la hora".

In Spanish language minutes are added to the hour using the word y (and).

Son las once y cinco./It's five minutes past eleven.


Minutes can be subtracted from the hour using the word menos (less).

Son las cuatro menos diez./It's ten minutes till four.

Other words that you can use are media (half) and cuarto (quarter).

Son las tres y media./It's half past one.
Es la una y cuarto./It's quarter past one.

Of course, you can use a combination too:

Son las cinco menos cuarto./It's quarter till five.
Son las nueve y media./It's half past nine.


To say something occurs at a specific time, you must use the form a + la(s) + hour.

Iré a tu casa a las tres./I'll go to your house at three o'clock.


In Spanish is never used 'in' pronoun to express a part of the day. It´s used de (of) before the part or the day.

La clase comienza a las dos de la tarde./The class begin at two o'clock in the afternoon.


It's not very common to use the expressions a.m and p.m.
If you don´t know an exact time, you must use the pronoun por + part of the day.

Por la mañana/In the morning.
Por la tarde/In the afternoon.
Por la noche/In the evening.

Mi hijo vendrá por la tarde./My son will come in the afternoon.


Other expressions that you can use are:

Mañana/Tomorrow, morning
Mañana por la mañana/Tomorrow morning
Pasado mañana/The day after tomorrow
Ayer/Yesterday
Anteayer/The day before yesterday.
Anoche/Last night
La noche anterior, anteanoche/The night before last
El viernes que viene/Next Friday
El mes que viene/Next month
El domingo pasado/Last Monday
Durante el día/During the day
Al amanecer/When the sun is appearing in the morning.
Al atardecer/When the sun is disappearing in the afternoon.
Al mediodía/At noon
A la medianoche/At midnight
Alrededor de/Around
De día/Days
A tiempo/On time
En punto/Exactly, on-the-dot
Tarde/Late
Temprano/Early
Madrugada/Early morning.