Talk About Schedules with A las and Time Phrases
Schedules need the preposition a before a clock time. Link classes, work, meals, and appointments to exact hours while keeping es la una distinct from plural times.
Learning objective
State when scheduled activities happen using a la, a las, and accurate clock expressions.
A clock expression names a time, while a schedule phrase connects an activity to that time. Spanish uses the linking word a before the hour: La clase empieza a las nueve means the class starts at nine. This word has no direct spoken equivalent in the English translation, so word-for-word transfer often drops it.
Use a la una for one o’clock because una is singular. Use a las with the other hours: a las dos, a las cinco, and a las once. To tell the current time, however, say Es la una or Son las dos; do not use a unless an action is scheduled for that time.
Add minutes with y for the first half hour: a las ocho y cuarto is at quarter past eight. Menos can count back from the next hour: a las diez menos cuarto is at quarter to ten. Regional and personal preferences may favour numerical forms, so 9:45 can also be expressed transparently as a las nueve cuarenta y cinco.
A useful schedule links more than clocks: Trabajo de nueve a cinco, almuerzo a la una y tengo una clase a las seis y media. De…a marks the span from one time to another, while the individual a la and a las phrases locate two events inside the day.
Examples
La cita es a la una y cuarto.
The appointment is at quarter past one.
A la remains singular because the hour is una.
El tren sale a las siete menos diez.
The train leaves at ten to seven.
The schedule needs a las before the plural hour.
Son las ocho, pero la tienda abre a las nueve.
It is eight o’clock, but the shop opens at nine.
Son tells the time; abre a las connects an event to another time.
Trabajo de ocho a cuatro y descanso a las doce y media.
I work from eight to four and take a break at half past twelve.
The sentence combines a time span with one scheduled break.
Common mistake
- Instead of
- La reunión empieza las una y termina son las tres.
- Try
- La reunión empieza a la una y termina a las tres.
Scheduled actions require a before their clock times. Una takes singular la, while tres takes plural las. Son las tres would tell the current time, not attach three o’clock to termina. English at cannot determine the Spanish article pattern by itself.
Practice
Try it yourself
Correct and join this timetable: la biblioteca abre las nueve; mi clase es a las una; el autobús sale son las dos y media; trabajo 3:00–6:00.