In Spanish, telling time is often structured around the hour and minutes, and the word "menos" is used to express the time when the minute hand is approaching the next hour.
Here's a basic guide for telling time in Spanish:
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Basic Structure:
- Es la una (It is one o'clock) for 1:00.
- Son las dos (It is two o'clock) for 2:00 and so on for the hours.
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Adding Minutes:
- For times from 1:01 to 1:30, you would say:
- Es la una y cinco (It's 1:05)
- Es la una y veinte (It's 1:20)
- For times from 1:01 to 1:30, you would say:
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Using "menos":
- For times from 1:31 to 12:59, you'll use "menos" to indicate how many minutes are left until the next hour:
- Es la una menos cinco (It's 12:55 – literally "It's one minus five")
- Son las dos menos diez (It's 1:50 – literally "It's two minus ten")
- Son las tres menos cuarto (It's 2:45 – literally "It's three minus a quarter")
- For times from 1:31 to 12:59, you'll use "menos" to indicate how many minutes are left until the next hour:
The format essentially goes like this:
- For minutes after the hour: "es la una y [minutes]"
- For minutes before the next hour: "son las [next hour] menos [minutes to that hour]"
Here are some examples:
- 3:15 → Son las tres y cuarto (It's 3:15).
- 4:30 → Son las cuatro y media (It's 4:30).
- 5:45 → Son las seis menos cuarto (It's 5:45).
Remember, "menos" is used to indicate how much time you are "missing" until the next hour.