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Full Spanish Guide | Dates And Times

Whether you're planning a trip to a Spanish-speaking country, communicating with Spanish-speaking friends, or simply expanding your language skills, knowing how to talk about dates and times in Spanish is essential.

In this guide, we'll walk you through the basics of discussing dates and times in the Spanish language.

two cartoon people pushing clocks with a title that says "Dates & Time In Spanish"

Talking About Dates

Date Format: In Spanish-speaking countries, dates are typically written in the format of Day/Month/Year. For example, September 5th, 2023, would be written as "5 de septiembre de 2023."

Days of the Week: Before diving into dates, it's important to familiarize yourself with the days of the week in Spanish:

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

Months of the Year:

Here are the months of the year in Spanish:

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

Specific Dates: To express a specific date, use the pattern "Day of the week + el + number + de + month + de + year." For instance, you can say "El 5 de septiembre de 2023" to refer to September 5th, 2023.

Seasons Of The Year In Spanish

Primavera - Spring
Verano - Summer
Otoño - Autumn/Fall
Invierno - Winter

Extra Words You Might Need For Talking About Dates

Anteayer - the day before yesterday
Ayer - yesterday
Anoche - last night
Hoy - today
Esta noche - tonight
Mañana - tomorrow
Próximo, próxima - next
Último, última - last
El día - day
La semana - week
El mes - month
El año - year
La década - decade
El siglo - century

cartoon teacher saying "Good job! You learned how to talk about dates, now let’s talk about asking about and telling the time"

Talking About Times

Time Format: In Spanish, times are typically expressed in the 12-hour clock format, similar to English. To state the time, use "la" (for "o'clock") and "y" (for "and") to specify minutes.

1:00 AM - La una de la mañana
3:15 PM - Las tres y quince de la tarde

AM and PM: To differentiate between morning (AM) and afternoon/evening (PM), use "de la mañana" (in the morning) and "de la tarde/noche" (in the evening/night) respectively.

10:30 AM - Las diez y treinta de la mañana
7:45 PM - Las siete y cuarenta y cinco de la tarde

Expressing Minutes: When mentioning minutes, simply state the number of minutes followed by "y" and the number of minutes.

2:05 PM - Las dos y cinco de la tarde
6:30 AM - Las seis y treinta de la mañana

Expressing A Quarter & Half Hour: Use the word "media" to refer to half an hour and "y quince" to refer to a quarter.

9:30 AM - Las nueve y media de la mañana
4:15 PM - Las cuatro y quince de la tarde

Tip For Telling The Time:

The word “Pico” in Spanish is often used to describe the time, it basically means “a bit past” - For example:

To say a bit past *** - Use the words Y pico

“¿Qué hora es mamá?” - What time is it mom?

“Son las 3 y pico hijo” - It’s a bit past three

To say half past *** - Use the words Media/Treinta (Half/30)

“Son las cuatro y media/treinta” - It’s four and a half/thirty

To say “Midnight” and “Noon” - Use the words Medianoche/Mediodía

“Ya es medianoche” - It’s already midnight

“Casi es mediodía” - It’s almost noon

To say “exactly ***” - Use the words En punto

“Son las cuatro en punto” - It’s four o’clock sharp/exactly

picture of cartoon teacher pointing to clocks that demonstrate how to say their times in spanish

Asking & Telling Time In Spanish

In general, telling time in Spanish is not very different from English. However, keep in mind that when you tell the time, it's always plural (unless it's 1 o'clock), and it's always feminine. So remember "son" and "las." For example: Son las 5 - it's 5 o'clock. Now, let's take a look at a bunch of super useful phrases that will show you how to ask for, and tell time.

Asking for the Time:

¿Qué hora es? - What time is it?
¿Puede decirme la hora, por favor? - Can you tell me the time, please?
¿Tienes la hora exacta? - Do you have the exact time?
¿A qué hora es la reunión? - What time is the meeting?
¿Cuándo empieza la película? - When does the movie start?

Telling the Time:

Son las dos de la tarde. - It's 2:00 in the afternoon.
Es la una y media de la mañana. - It's 1:30 in the morning.
Son las cinco menos cuarto de la tarde. - It's 4:45 in the afternoon.
Es mediodía. - It's noon.
Es medianoche. - It's midnight.

Asking for the Date:

¿Cuál es la fecha de hoy? - What is today's date?
¿Puedes decirme la fecha de tu cumpleaños? - Can you tell me your birthday date?
¿Qué día es hoy? - What day is today?
¿Cuándo es tu aniversario? - When is your anniversary?
¿A qué fecha estamos? - What date is it?

Telling the Date:

Hoy es el primero de enero. - Today is January 1st.
Mañana será el cinco de junio. - Tomorrow will be June 5th.
Mi cumpleaños es el veintidós de agosto. - My birthday is on August 22nd.
El aniversario de mi boda es el diez de julio. - My wedding anniversary is on July 10th.
La reunión está programada para el tres de marzo. - The meeting is scheduled for March 3rd.

Cartoon teacher saying "Good job with todays lesson, click on this picture if you want to learn all of the ways to say “im sorry” in Spanish!"