In Spanish, when you want to discuss when a particular event will occur, you can use a common Spanish phrase — ¿A qué hora . . . ? (At what time . . .?). You can express the answer to that question with A la una or A las + any time after 1:
¿A qué hora vienen? (At what time are they coming?)
A la una. (At 1 o’clock.)
A las tres y cuarto. (At 3:15.)
Of course, you may want to be more general about when something is going to happen. When expressing time, the Spanish words and expressions in the following table may come in handy:
| English Phrase | Spanish Equivalent | English Phrase | Spanish Equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| a second | un segundo | in an hour | en una hora |
| a minute | un minuto | in a while | dentro de un rato |
| a quarter of an hour | un cuarto de hora | until ten o’clock | hasta las diez |
| an hour | una hora | before nine o’clock | antes de las nueve |
| a half hour | una media hora | after seven o’clock | después de las siete |
| in the morning (a.m.) | por la mañana | since what time? | ¿desde qué hora? |
| in the afternoon (p.m.) | por la tarde | since eight o’clock | desde las ocho |
| in the evening (p.m.) | por la noche | one hour ago | hace una hora |
| at what time? | ¿a qué hora? | early | temprano |
| at exactly nine o’clock | a las nueve en punto | late | tarde |
| at about two o’clock | a eso de las dos | late (in arriving) | de retraso |
