Time expressions (e.g. telling the time, days, days of the week, months, seasons)

Cambridge IGCSE Spanish 0530

Topic: Everyday Activities – Time Expressions

In this lesson you will learn how to talk about time in Spanish. You will be able to:

• Ask and answer questions about the time.
• Use the days of the week, months and seasons correctly.
• Combine time expressions with everyday activities.

1. Vocabulary

1.1 Days of the Week

English	Spanish
Monday	lunes
Tuesday	martes
Wednesday	miércoles
Thursday	jueves
Friday	viernes
Saturday	sábado
Sunday	domingo

1.2 Months

English	Spanish
January	enero
February	febrero
March	marzo
April	abril
May	mayo
June	junio
July	julio
August	agosto
September	septiembre
October	octubre
November	noviembre
December	diciembre

1.3 Seasons

English	Spanish
Spring	primavera
Summer	verano
Autumn / Fall	otoño
Winter	invierno

2. Telling the Time

Key structures:

• ¿Qué hora es? – What time is it?
• Es la una. – It is one o’clock.
• Son las n (dos, tres, …). – It is n o’clock.
• Son las n y m minutos. – It is n : m.
• Son las n y cuarto. – It is n : 15.
• Son las n y media. – It is n : 30.
• Son las n menos m (para las n+1). – It is m minutes to n+1.

2.1 Example Dialogue

María: ¿Qué hora es?
Juan: Son las tres y cuarto.
María: Gracias. Tengo que ir a clase a las cuatro.

3. Everyday Activities with Time Expressions

Combine verbs of routine with time phrases. Below are common activities and example sentences.

Activity (English)	Spanish Phrase
Wake up	Me despierto a las siete.
Have breakfast	Desayuno a las ocho y media.
Go to school	Voy a la escuela a las nueve.
Study	Estudio de las diez a la una.
Lunch	Almuerzo a la una y veinte.
Play football	Juego al fútbol a las tres y cuarto.
Do homework	Hago la tarea a las cinco.
Watch TV	Veo la tele a las siete y media.
Go to bed	Me acuesto a las diez.

4. Practice Exercises

4.1 Matching – Days, Months & Seasons

1. Match the English word with its Spanish equivalent.

• Monday – __________
• July – __________
• Winter – __________
• Friday – __________
• October – __________
• Spring – __________

4.2 Fill‑in the blanks – Telling the Time

Complete the sentences with the correct time expression.

1. ¿Qué hora es? – __________ (It is 2:45).
2. La clase empieza a __________ (7:00).
3. Voy al gimnasio a __________ (6:30).
4. Mi hermano llega a casa a __________ (9:15).
5. La película termina a __________ (11:50).

4.3 Translation – Everyday Activities

Translate the following sentences into Spanish.

1. I wake up at six o’clock.
2. We have dinner at eight thirty.
3. She studies from nine to twelve.
4. They watch T \cdot at half past nine.
5. He goes to bed at ten fifteen.

4.4 Dialogue Completion

Fill the gaps with the appropriate time expression.

Ana: ¿A qué hora ______ (you start) la clase de español?
Carlos: La clase ______ (starts) a las diez y veinte.
Ana: ¿Y la pausa?
Carlos: La pausa ______ (is) a las once y media.

5. Summary

Key points to remember:

• Use “es la una” for 1 o’clock and “son las …” for all other hours.
• Quarter‑hour expressions: “y cuarto”, “y media”, “menos cuarto”.
• Days of the week, months and seasons are not capitalised in Spanish.
• Combine activity verbs with “a las …” to indicate when something happens.

6. Homework

Write a short paragraph (5‑7 sentences) describing a typical day in your life, using at least five different time expressions and three different activities.