Time

now

ahora (ah-OH-rah)

later

después (dehs-PWEHS)

before

antes (ahn-TEHS)

morning

mañana (mah-NYAH-nah)

afternoon

tarde (TAHR-deh)

night

noche (NOH-cheh)

Clock time

one o’clock AM

la una de la madrugada; la una de la mañana (lah OOH-nah deh lah mah-droo-GAH dah; lah OOH-nah deh lah mah-NYAH-nah)

two o’clock AM

las dos de la madrugada; las dos de la mañana (lahs DOHS deh lah mah-droo-GAH dah; lahss DOHS deh lah mah-NYAH-nah)

ten o’clock AM

las diez de la mañana (lahs dee-EHS deh lah mah-NYAH-nah)

noon

mediodía; las doce de la mañana (lahs DOH-seh deh lah mah-NYAH-nah)

one o’clock PM

la una de la tarde (lah OOH-nah deh lah TAHR-deh)

two o’clock PM

las dos de la tarde (lahs DOHS deh lah TAHR-deh)

ten o’clock PM

las diez de la noche (lahs dee-EHS deh lah NOH-cheh)

midnight

medianoche; las doce de la noche (meh-dee-yah-NOH-cheh ; lahs DOH-seh deh lah NOH-cheh)

Writing Time

When speaking, times are given in AM/PM form (but saying de la mañana (morning), de la tarde (afternoon), de la noche (evening/night) or de la madrugada (late night) to distinguish between AM and PM. On the other hand, in most countries times are rendered in 24-hour format, with a colon separating hours and minutes:

9 o’clock AM

nueve de la mañana (spoken: NWEH-beh deh la mah-NYAH-nah), 9:00 (written)

12:30 PM

doce y media de la mañana (spoken: DOH-seh ee MEH-dee-ah deh la mah-NYAH-nah), 12:30 (written)

1 o’clock PM

una de la tarde (spoken: OOH-nah deh lah TAHR-deh), 13:00 (written)

10 o’clock PM

diez de la noche (spoken: dee-EHS deh la NOH-cheh), 22:00 (written)

2 o’clock AM

dos de la madrugada or dos de la mañana (spoken: DOHS deh la mah-droo-GAH-dah or DOHS deh la mah-NYAH-nah), 2:00 (written)

Duration

_____ minute(s)

_____ minuto(s) (mee-NOO-toh(s))

_____ hour(s)

_____ hora(s) (OH-rah(s))

_____ day(s)

_____ día(s) (DEE-ah(s))

_____ week(s)

_____ semana(s) (seh-MAH-nah(s))

_____ month(s)

_____ mes(es) (MEHS-(ehs))

_____ year(s)

_____ año(s) (AH-nyoh(s))

Days

today

hoy (OH-ee)

yesterday

ayer (aah-YEHR)

tomorrow

mañana (surely you know how to pronounce this word: mah-NYAH-nah)

this week

esta semana (EHS-tah seh-MAH-nah)

last week

la semana pasada (lah seh-MAH-nah pah-SAH-dah)

next week

la semana que viene (lah seh-MAH-nah keh vee-EH-neh)

Monday

lunes (LOOH-nehss)

Tuesday

martes (MAHR-tehss)

Wednesday

miércoles (mee-EHR-coh-lehss)

Thursday

jueves (WEY-vess)

Friday

viernes (vee-EHR-nehss)

Saturday

sábado (SAH-bah-doh)

Sunday

domingo (doh-MEEN-goh)

The week begins on Mondays.

Months

January

enero (eh-NEH-roh)

February

febrero (feh-BREH-roh)

March

marzo (MAR-thoh)

April

abril (ah-BREEL)

May

mayo (MAH-joh)

June

junio (HOO-nee-oh)

July

julio (HOO-lee-oh)

August

agosto (aah-GUS-toh)

September

septiembre (sep-TEE-EHM-breh)

October

octubre (ok-TOO-breh)

November

noviembre (no-VEE-EHM-breh)

December

diciembre (dee-CEE-EHM-breh)

Writing Dates

Dates are given in day-month-year form. All spoken and written, long and short forms follow this pattern:

May 7th, 2003

7 de mayo del 2003

October 23rd, 1997

23 de octubre del 1997

Day-month constructions (4 de julio, for example) are not usually abbreviated. In the rare cases that an abbreviation is used, the number of the month is not used, but its initial letter is. Usual examples are:

23-F

23 de febrero, date of a failed coup d’état in Spain (1981)

11-S

11 de septiembre, date of the attack to the Twin Towers (2001) (and of the Chilean coup in 1973).