📅 Time & Dates - Hora y fechas

Aa ⏱ ≈ 17 minutes

Beginner Spanish · Time, days, and dates

Time and Dates in Spanish

A clock tells you when. A calendar tells you which day. Spanish gives you a few simple patterns for both. Learn how to ask the time, make a plan, name days and months, and say a date without turning your schedule into a grammar puzzle.

Your next small win: ask what time it is, understand a few common clock times, name a day or month, and say when something happens.

Start with when

Useful Time Words

Before you read a clock or calendar, learn a few words that place something in time. These come up constantly in everyday plans.

hoy Today Hoy tengo mucho trabajo. means “I have a lot of work today.”
mañana Tomorrow Nos vemos mañana. means “See you tomorrow.”
ayer Yesterday Ayer llovió. means “It rained yesterday.”
ahora Now
más tarde Later
pronto Soon

Today or tomorrow?

You are going to see a friend tomorrow. Say “See you tomorrow” in Spanish.

Parts of the day
la mañana The morning Trabajo por la mañana. means “I work in the morning.”
la tarde The afternoon Nos vemos por la tarde. means “See you in the afternoon.”
la noche The night Buenas noches. can be used at night.

Watch mañana: la mañana means “the morning,” while mañana without the article can mean “tomorrow.” Compare Trabajo por la mañana with Trabajo mañana.

More time expressions
tempranoEarly
tardeLate
a vecesSometimes
siempreAlways
nuncaNever

Look at the clock

Telling Time

Start with one question: ¿Qué hora es? Then listen for the hour and any extra phrase that tells you minutes past or before it.

¿Qué hora es? What time is it?
Es la una. It is one o'clock. One o'clock uses the singular form.
Son las dos. It is two o'clock. Other hours use son las.
Son las tres y cuarto. It is 3:15. Y cuarto means a quarter past.
Son las tres y media. It is 3:30. Y media means half past.
Son las cinco menos cuarto. It is 4:45. Literally, it is a quarter before five.

One small exception: use Es la una for one o'clock. For the other hours, use Son las...

Half past three

The clock says 3:30. Say the time in Spanish.

Morning, afternoon, and night with clock time
de la mañana In the morning / a.m.
de la tarde In the afternoon or evening
de la noche At night
Es mediodía. It is noon.
Es medianoche. It is midnight.

Move from clocks to calendars

Days of the Week

The week has seven familiar stops. Listen through the list once, then practice the days that matter to your own schedule.

lunesMonday
martesTuesday
miércolesWednesday
juevesThursday
viernesFriday
sábadoSaturday
domingoSunday

Lowercase is normal: Spanish day and month names are normally written with a lowercase letter unless they begin a sentence.

Months of the year

Months follow the same lowercase pattern. Learn the ones connected to birthdays, trips, holidays, or plans first.

eneroJanuary
febreroFebruary
marzoMarch
abrilApril
mayoMay
junioJune
julioJuly
agostoAugust
septiembreSeptember
octubreOctober
noviembreNovember
diciembreDecember

Pick your month

Choose a month that matters to you and say its Spanish name aloud. Then listen to it once.

Put a date on the plan

Talking About Dates

For many dates, Spanish uses the pattern el + number + de + month. Once you know the number and month, you already have most of the sentence.

¿Qué fecha es hoy? What is today's date?
Hoy es el cinco de mayo. Today is May 5th. Notice the pattern: el cinco de mayo.
Mi cumpleaños es el diez de octubre. My birthday is October 10th.
Es el primero de enero. It is January 1st. The first of the month can use primero.

Say a date

Your birthday is October 10th. Complete the sentence in Spanish.

Time and schedule phrases
Nos vemos a las seis. See you at six.
Siempre desayuno a las ocho. I always eat breakfast at eight.
Mi cumpleaños es en octubre. My birthday is in October.
Nos vamos de vacaciones en julio. We are going on vacation in July.

Put it together

Making Plans

Time becomes more useful when another person is waiting for the answer. Read both parts, listen, and then try the conversation aloud.

Meeting a friend

A
¿A qué hora nos vemos? What time shall we meet?
B
A las seis. At six.
A
¡Perfecto! Perfect!

Checking a movie time

A
¿A qué hora empieza la película? What time does the movie start?
B
Empieza a las siete y cuarto. It starts at 7:15.

Your turn · 8 quick questions

Practice: Time and Dates

Choose the phrase that fits the clock, date, or situation. The questions focus on the main patterns from the lesson.

Audio uses your device's Spanish text-to-speech voice. Listen to the phrase, then try saying it yourself.