This cheat sheet helps students ask for the time, answer with the correct Spanish pattern, and understand common phrases used when giving directions. These skills are useful in conversations about school schedules, travel, meeting times, and locations. Students need this reference because Spanish time expressions and direction phrases often use patterns that do not match English word for word.
The most important time patterns are ¿Qué hora es?, Es la una, and Son las dos, tres, cuatro, and so on. Minutes are added with y, while menos is used to say how many minutes remain before the next hour. For directions, students should recognize commands like siga, doble, and cruce, plus location words such as a la derecha, a la izquierda, cerca de, and al lado de.
Key Facts
- Use ¿Qué hora es? to ask What time is it?
- Use Es la una for 1:00 because una is singular.
- Use Son las dos, Son las tres, and Son las cuatro for 2:00, 3:00, 4:00, and most other hours.
- Add minutes after the hour with y, as in Son las tres y diez for 3:10.
- Use y cuarto for quarter past, as in Es la una y cuarto for 1:15.
- Use y media for half past, as in Son las ocho y media for 8:30.
- Use menos to say minutes before the next hour, as in Son las cinco menos diez for 4:50.
- Use ¿Dónde está...? to ask where something is, and answer with Está cerca de, Está al lado de, or Está frente a.
Vocabulary
- ¿Qué hora es?
- This question means What time is it?
- Es la una
- This phrase means It is one o'clock and is used only with one.
- Son las
- This phrase means It is and is used with most hours, such as Son las seis.
- a la derecha
- This phrase means to the right or on the right.
- a la izquierda
- This phrase means to the left or on the left.
- siga derecho
- This direction means go straight ahead.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Using Son las una is wrong because una is singular, so the correct phrase is Es la una.
- Using Es la dos is wrong because hours from two through twelve use the plural pattern Son las.
- Translating half past as y mitad is wrong because the standard time phrase is y media.
- Using menos with the current hour is wrong when the time is before the next hour, so 2:50 is Son las tres menos diez.
- Mixing up derecha and izquierda changes the direction, so always connect derecha with right and izquierda with left.
Practice Questions
- 1 Write the Spanish time for 1:15.
- 2 Write the Spanish time for 7:30.
- 3 Translate this direction into English: Siga derecho y doble a la derecha.
- 4 A student says Son las cuatro menos quince for 4:15. Explain why the phrase is not correct and give the correct time expression.