Learn how to ask for and say the time of day using Mexican Spanish
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Alisha: Hi everybody, this is Alisha. |
| Fernando: Hola amigos, yo soy Fernando. |
| Alisha: Welcome to SpanishPod101.com. What’s the Time in Mexico? |
| Fernando: In this lesson, you will learn how to ask the time, and find out what time things are happening. |
| Alisha: In this conversation, Ashley and María are shopping in a store when suddenly one of them becomes concerned about the time. |
| Fernando: Since they know each other and are friends, they will be using casual Spanish. |
| Alisha: Let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| María: Ashley, ¿qué horas son? |
| Ashley Son las ocho y media. |
| María: ¿Y a qué hora cierran la tienda? |
| Ashley A las nueve. |
| Alisha: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| María: Ashley, ¿qué horas son? |
| Ashley Son las ocho y media. |
| María: ¿Y a qué hora cierran la tienda? |
| Ashley A las nueve. |
| Alisha: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| María: Ashley, ¿qué horas son? |
| Ashley, what time is it? |
| Ashley Son las ocho y media. |
| It's half past eight. |
| María: ¿Y a qué hora cierran la tienda? |
| And what time does the store close? |
| Ashley A las nueve. |
| At nine o'clock. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Alisha: So Fernando, speaking of time, could you tell us about attitudes towards time in Mexico and Latin America? |
| Fernando: Do you mean punctuality, for example? |
| Alisha: Yes, exactly. |
| Fernando: Hmm, this is a good question. It’s safe to say that in Mexico and Latin America, people are very... relaxed about time in general. |
| Alisha: So they’re not rushing around, trying to be places on time? |
| Fernando: Right. If someone is holding a party, or some kind of event, it is normal, or even expected, to arrive late. Usually a half hour or so. |
| Alisha: Really? And that’s not a problem, you wouldn’t have to apologize or anything? |
| Fernando: No, not at all. It’s just something that’s accepted. So don’t be surprised if you’re hanging out with friends in Mexico, and they never seem to be on time. |
| Alisha: What about business situations? |
| Fernando: Well, business works a bit differently! There, you have to be on time. |
| Alisha: (laughs) I would hope so... |
| Fernando: So just be sure to keep that in mind. |
| Alisha: Okay, and with that, onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Fernando: qué [natural native speed] |
| what |
| Fernando: qué [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: qué [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Alisha: hora [natural native speed] |
| hour, time |
| Alisha: hora [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Alisha: hora [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: ser [natural native speed] |
| to be (permanent characteristics) |
| Fernando: ser [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: ser [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Alisha: ocho [natural native speed] |
| eight |
| Alisha: ocho [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Alisha: ocho [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: media [natural native speed] |
| half |
| Fernando: media [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: media [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Alisha: cerrar [natural native speed] |
| to close |
| Alisha: cerrar [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Alisha: cerrar [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: tienda [natural native speed] |
| store |
| Fernando: tienda [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: tienda [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Alisha: a [natural native speed] |
| to, at |
| Alisha: a [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Alisha: a [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: nueve [natural native speed] |
| nine |
| Fernando: nueve [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: nueve [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Alisha: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson.The first word is... |
| Fernando: Hora |
| Alisha: It sounds like the word “hour”! |
| Fernando: Yes, that’s what it means! ‘Hora’ means “hour.” And it also means “time” |
| Alisha: So it means both? |
| Fernando: Yes. Maybe some examples will help. So when talking about numbers of hours, it’s ‘una hora’, ‘dos horas’, ‘tres horas...’ and so on. |
| Alisha: So that’s “one hour”, “two hours”, “three hours”, and so on. And notice that the word becomes plural from the number two on. |
| Fernando: Right, ‘hora’ becomes ‘horas’. ‘Dos horas’. |
| Alisha: Okay, and it also has the meaning of “time”, you said? |
| Fernando: Yes, like when you’re talking about the specific time something happens. For example... ‘Es hora de dormir.’ |
| Alisha: It’s time to sleep. |
| Fernando: Right! Or, for example, “it’s time to eat.” which is ‘es hora de comer’. |
| Alisha: Okay, great! We’ll be using this word a lot in the next section. And now, our next vocabulary word. |
| Fernando: It is ‘tienda. ‘Tienda’ means “shop” or “place where goods are sold.” |
| Alisha: Can it be a department store? |
| Fernando: Yes, it can. |
| Alisha: Can it be a tiny shop also? |
| Fernando: Yes, it can be small. In that case we can use the diminutive and say ‘tiendita’ |
| Alisha: Listeners, let's repeat- |
| Fernando: Tienda... [pause] |
| Tiendita [pause] |
| Alisha: Can it be a restaurant? |
| Fernando: No, we don’t use it for restaurants. |
| Alisha: What about supermarkets? |
| Fernando: No, for “supermarkets” we say ‘supermercado’ or ‘súper’. |
| Alisha: So it’s only for stores where consumer goods are sold. |
| Fernando: That’s right. |
| Alisha: Okay, now onto the grammar! |
Lesson focus |
| Alisha: The focus of this lesson is asking what time it is, and telling the time. Fernando, can you start by telling us the phrase to use for asking the time? |
| Fernando: Sure. It is... ‘¿Qué horas son?’ |
| Alisha: What time is it? |
| Fernando: Please repeat - ‘¿Qué horas son?’[pause] |
| Alisha: Let’s break it down. |
| Fernando: ‘Que,’ as you know, means “what”. ‘Horas’ means “hours,” and ‘son’ means “there are.” |
| Alisha: So, it doesn’t translate directly, but it’s kind of similar to saying “what hour is it?” |
| Fernando: Right. ‘¿Qué horas son?’ Now, just so you know, you might also hear ‘Qué hora es?’ |
| Alisha: And this also means “what time is it?” |
| Fernando: Yes, it’s just that ‘hora’ is in the singular. But either one is fine. |
| Alisha: Okay listeners, please repeat again - |
| Fernando: ¿Qué horas son? (pause) |
| Alisha: Okay, now let’s move on to the task of saying the time. Let’s start with, “it’s one o’clock.” |
| Fernando: ‘Es la una.’ We have ‘es’, plus the feminine particle ‘la’, and then the number ‘una’. |
| Alisha: “It’s one o’clock”. How about, “it’s two o’clock?” |
| Fernando: Son las dos. |
| Alisha: So this one uses ‘son’, instead of ‘es’? |
| Fernando: Good catch! Yes, for all of the numbers after one, we say ‘son las...’ and then the number. |
| Alisha: Okay, since they’re plural... that makes sense! Let’s hear some more. How about, “It’s three o’clock.” |
| Fernando: Son las tres |
| Alisha: Four o’clock |
| Fernando: Son las cuatro. |
| Alisha: Eight o’clock |
| Fernando: Son las ocho. |
| Alisha: That sounds simple enough. So... “one o’clock” is the only one that uses ‘es’ instead of ‘son’? |
| Fernando: Yes, all others must be ‘son las...’ |
| Alisha: One other thing we should cover here - in the dialogue, Ashley says it's half past eight, or eight thirty. How do we add that detail in Spanish? |
| Fernando: If you want to say “half past”, you add ‘y media’ to the number. For example, ‘son las dos y media’ |
| Alisha: It’s 2.30. |
| Fernando: Son las diez y media |
| Alisha: It’s 10.30. |
| Alisha: One other thing we should cover here - Maria asks what time the store closes. So she’s asking what time something happens. |
| Fernando: Ah, right. For this, simply add ‘a’ before the phrase ‘que hora...’ and then the action you’re asking about. |
| Alisha: Let’s take the example from the dialogue. “What time does the store close?” |
| Fernando: ‘a qué hora cierran la tienda?’ This is a little advanced, but here’s how it goes - ‘a que hora’, plus the verb, and then object if needed. |
| Alisha: Can we hear another example? |
| Fernando: Sure. To ask what time a museum opens, for example, you would say ‘a qué hora abren el museo?’ |
| Alisha: So literally, “at what time, they open the museum.” |
| Fernando: Right. Just remember to add the ‘a’ when you’re asking what time something happens. If you’re just asking the time, just remember ‘Que horas son’. |
Outro |
| Alisha: Okay, I think we’ve got it! And that will do it for this lesson. Listeners, be sure to let us know if you have any questions. |
| Fernando: Yes, we’re here to help! |
| Alisha: Take care, everyone, and see you next time! |
| Fernando: Adiós. |
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