Learn how to tell time in Portuguese
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Intro |
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| Michael: How do you ask for the time in Portuguese? |
| Ana Clara: And how do you tell the time? |
| Michael: At PortuguesePod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: during a school break, Sasha Lee asks her classmate Giovana Gomes about the time. They don't want to be late for their next class, so Sasha asks, |
| "What time is it?" |
| Sasha Lee: Que horas são? |
| Dialogue |
| Sasha Lee: Que horas são? |
| Giovana Gomes: São quinze pras três. |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Sasha Lee: Que horas são? |
| Michael: "What time is it?" |
| Giovana Gomes: São quinze pras três. |
| Michael: "It's a quarter to three." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: Telling time or asking "What time is it?" is essential knowledge in any language you're studying and here you will learn time-related words and phrases for any occasion in Portuguese. |
| In the conversation, we heard Sasha Lee asking: |
| Ana Clara: Que horas são? |
| Michael: That is: "What time is it?" |
| You can use this set phrase to ask the time in any situation in Portuguese. |
| And how about telling time? |
| To say "It's one o'clock" in Portuguese is: |
| Ana Clara: É uma hora. |
| Michael: In this case, you can learn it as a set phrase for this hour specifically. The verb "to be" in Portuguese, or |
| Ana Clara: ser |
| Michael: used in the phrase for one o'clock, is always in the third person singular form: |
| Ana Clara: é |
| Michael: literally "is," but used in the sentence as "It's." |
| It is followed by the number "one" in Portuguese. However, as it agrees with "hour" in Portuguese: |
| Ana Clara: hora |
| Michael: which is a feminine noun, the number "one" will also be used in its feminine form, as it is gender sensitive: |
| Ana Clara: uma |
| Michael: So that we have the full set phrase: |
| Ana Clara: É uma hora. |
| Michael: "It's one o'clock." |
| Now, there are two additional set phrases we'd like to share with you. To say "It's noon" or "It's midday" in Portuguese, you will use: |
| Ana Clara: É meio-dia. |
| Michael: And "It's midnight" will be: |
| Ana Clara: É meia-noite. |
| Michael: Now, to say any time from two o'clock on, the verb "to be" in Portuguese is used in the third person plural form: |
| Ana Clara: são |
| Michael: literally "are," but meaning "It's" when telling the time. So, "It's two o'clock" will be: |
| Ana Clara: São duas horas. |
| Michael: The number "two" in Portuguese is also gender sensitive and will agree with "hours," which in Portuguese is: |
| Ana Clara: horas |
| Michael: Therefore, the number "two" is used in the feminine plural form: |
| Ana Clara: duas |
| Michael: Let's check out another example: "It's five o'clock" will be |
| Ana Clara: São cinco horas. |
| Michael: As Brazil uses the twenty-four hour clock, the count is different in the afternoon, evening, and night. So, for example, instead of "It's 3:00 o'clock p.m," we use, "It's 15:00 o'clock": |
| Ana Clara: São quinze horas. |
| Michael: And instead of "It's 6:00 p.m," we say, "It's 18:00 o'clock": |
| Ana Clara: São dezoito horas. |
| Michael: Sometimes, you need to tell time and also give the minutes. In Portuguese, "minutes" is: |
| Ana Clara: minutos |
| Michael: So, for example, "fifteen minutes" is: |
| Ana Clara: quinze minutos |
| Michael: However, in Portuguese, it is common to omit the word "minutes" while telling time. So, for example: "It's 8:15 a.m." is: |
| Ana Clara: São oito e quinze. |
| Michael: "It's eight and fifteen." In Portuguese, the time expressions "quarter past" and "quarter to" are not used. Instead, "It's (hour) and fifteen" for "quarter past" ,and "It's fifteen to (hour)" for fifteen minutes before the hour. In the conversation, Giovana Gomes says: |
| Ana Clara: São quinze pras três. |
| Michael: literally "It's fifteen to (the) three," meaning "It's a quarter to three." An important note here is that the colloquial: |
| Ana Clara: pras |
| Michael: Is a contraction of "to (the)," for hours in the plural form. It's commonly used in spoken Portuguese, instead of the full form: |
| Ana Clara: para as |
| Michael: When using it with "one" hour, it will be in the singular form: |
| Ana Clara: pra |
| Michael: For example, |
| Ana Clara: São quinze pra uma |
| Michael: literally "It's fifteen to (the) one," meaning "It's a quarter to one." You can use these structures to give any amount of minutes after/to a certain hour, not only "fifteen past" or "fifteen to." |
| Now, the time expression "half past" has it's Portuguese counterpart, which is: |
| Ana Clara: e meia |
| Michael: literally "and half," omitting the term "hour." To be clear, instead of: |
| Ana Clara: e meia hora |
| Michael: literally "and half hour," in Portuguese, you'll use: |
| Ana Clara: e meia |
| Michael: "and half." So, for example: "It's half past 10 a.m." is |
| Ana Clara: São dez e meia. |
| Michael: "It's half past 7:00 a.m." |
| Ana Clara: São sete e meia. |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you've learned how to ask the time and how to say it in Portuguese. |
| Now, let's look at some examples. Our first example is: |
| Ana Clara: Que horas são? |
| Michael: "What time is it?" |
| As you've seen, this question is a handy set phrase to ask the time in Portuguese in any situation. |
| Our next example is: |
| Ana Clara: São sete horas. |
| Michael: "It's 7:00 a.m." |
| As you've learned, to say any time after one o'clock, the phrase used has the verb "to be" in Portuguese in the third person plural form. You've also learned that Brazil uses a twenty-four hour clock and, for that reason, the count is different in the afternoon, evening, and night. Let's look at an example again: |
| Ana Clara: São dezenove horas. |
| Michael: "It's 7:00 p.m." |
| The next example is: |
| Ana Clara: São dez e vinte. |
| Michael: literally "It's ten and twenty," meaning "It's twenty past ten a.m." As you have learned, to say any amount of minutes past a certain hour, Portuguese uses the structure "It's (hour) and (minutes)." Our last example is: |
| Ana Clara: São dez pras onze. |
| Michael: literally "it's ten to (the) eleven," meaning "It's ten to eleven a.m." As you've seen, to say any amount of minutes to a certain hour, as long as it's half past the hour, Portuguese uses the structure "It's (minutes) to (the) (hour)." |
| Expansion/Contrast (Optional) |
| Michael: So, you must be wondering why Giovana Gomes says |
| Ana Clara: São quinze pras três. |
| Michael: Literally, "It's fifteen to (the) three," meaning "It's a quarter to three," not using the twenty-four hour clock, as it's the afternoon. This is very common, especially in spoken Portuguese, to mention the hour in the afternoon, evening, and night using the numbers "one" up to "eleven" instead of the twenty-four hour clock. Let's check out some more examples: |
| Ana Clara: São quatro e dezoito. |
| Michael: literally "It's four and eighteen," meaning: "It's eighteen past four p.m." |
| Ana Clara: São cinco e cinco. |
| Michael: literally "It's five and five," meaning: "It's five past five p.m." |
| However, in formal writing, you'll notice that the twenty-four hour clock we've talked about is used—for example, in invitations, business communication, when scheduling meetings, events, etc. |
| Practice Section |
| Michael: Let's review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then, repeat after Ana Clara focusing on pronunciation. |
| Do you remember how Sasha Lee says "What time is it?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Ana Clara: Que horas são? |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Ana Clara: Que horas são? |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Ana Clara: Que horas são? |
| Michael: And do you remember how Giovana Gomes says "It's a quarter to three?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Ana Clara: São quinze pras três. |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Ana Clara: São quinze pras três. |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Ana Clara: São quinze pras três. |
| Cultural Insight/Expansion (Optional) |
| Michael: There is another way used to ask for the time in Portuguese using the verb "to have," which is: |
| Ana Clara: ter |
| Michael: So, you may be asked in informal speech: |
| Ana Clara: Você tem horas? |
| Michael: meaning "Do you have the time?" |
| Now, that you've learned how to tell the time in Portuguese, it will be no trouble at all to answer the question in case anyone asks you! |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Ana Clara: Até a próxima! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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