In this section, students are learning to tell the time in Spanish, a very practical skill when communicating on a daily basis. Asking for and telling the time enables students to communicate about schedules, plans, or daily routines. Students will go through clear explanations on how to express different times using two methods. Students can reinforce their learning by completing some interactive activities: listening exercises to identify and understand the pronunciation of times, spelling activities to memorize some key phrases, and speaking assignments to practice pronunciation and fluency. This will help students confidence in telling times in Spanish and find it easier to communicate effectively in real-life situations.
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Telling the time method 1
The structure for telling the time in Spanish using Method 1 is quite straightforward. We use regular numbers with the verb ser, but we need to pay extra attention when we refer to one o’clock, because we have to use its feminine form: Es la una. Whereas in English it would be “It’s one o’clock”. To tell all the other hours, you must use “son las” followed by the hour, as in Son las tres (“It’s three o’clock”). To add minutes, use y (and) plus the number of minutes: Son las dos y quince (“It’s two-fifteen”).
Writing exercise 1
Now it is time to practice telling time in Spanish using Method 1. Write sentences or fill in the blanks to describe the following time. Use “es la” when describing one and “son las” with all other hours. Use y when adding minutes. You will be able to relate comfortably to tell time in Spanish in a correct way.
Writing exercise 2
Keep practicing telling times in Spanish using Method 1: write sentences or fill in the blank to describe each given time. Remember to use “es la” for one and “son las” for all other hours, adding y when the minutes are included. This will give you great ease with telling the time in Spanish.
Drag and drop exercise
Drag and drop the time written in Spanish sentences into the corresponding box with the time in numbers. So look at each of the time displayed and based on what you see, drag and drop it in the matching sentence. This activity will reinforce your skill in recognizing and stating times in Spanish.
Listening exercise 1
During this listening activity, you will hear a time in Spanish, and you will have to match it with an appropriate picture from among several choices. Listen to the audio very well; pay attention to the hour and minutes, and then select the image that best portrays the time you heard. This will help reinforce your listening comprehension skills and your ability to tell the time in Spanish.
Writing assignment 3
Practice telling the time in Spanish using Method 1 by writing sentences or completing the blanks for each given time. Don’t forget that es la is used for one o’clock, and son las is used for all other hours-with the addition of in y when minutes are included. Let this exercise make you far more comfortable and easy with telling the time in Spanish.
Speaking assignment
The following speaking exercise introduces the practice of telling the time in Spanish using Method 1. With each given time, observe the structure and say the sentence aloud. Remember that “es la” is used with one, while with all other hours, use son las. If the minutes are to be included, add y before saying those. Pay close attention to pronunciation and phrasing. This will be a good way for you to build both your confidence and fluency in telling time in Spanish.
Google Chrome browser should be used to perform this speaking assignment.
Telling the time method 2
Other ways of telling time in Spanish would be by Method 2, where one introduces variations into the phrasing. A big part of this would be through the use of expressions such as “un cuarto” (a quarter), “y media” (half), or “menos” (to or until). Understanding Method 2 provides the flexibility of telling time and enables one to adapt easily into different contexts and levels of formality in Spanish conversations.
Explanation and exercises
We will look at an explanation of how to use Method 2 to tell time in Spanish. After this, you will practice what you have learned.
Drag and drop exercise
Drag and drop each time written as a Spanish sentence into the box that matches the time shown in numbers using method 2. Pay close attention to each time shown then drag it into its matching sentence.
Speaking assignment
Let’s practice telling the time in Spanish using Method 2. With each given time, observe the structure and say the sentence aloud. Pay close attention to the variations in the sentence. This will be a good way for you to build both your confidence and fluency in telling time in Spanish.
Google Chrome browser should be used to perform this speaking assignment.
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