Phrases & Vocabulary

Time

now
ahora (ah-OH-rah)

later
después (day-SPWAYSS)

before
antes (ahn-TAYSS)

morning
mañana (mah-NYAH-nah)

afternoon
tarde (TAHR-day)

night
noche (NOH-chay)

Clock

one o'clock AM
la una de la madrugada; la una de la mañana (lah OOH-nah day lah mah-drooh-GAH dah; lah OOH-nah day lah mahn-YAH-nah)

two o'clock AM
las dos de la madrugada; las dos de la mañana (lahss DOHSS day lah mah-drooh-GAH dah; lahss DOHSS day lah mahn-YAH-nah)

ten o'clock AM
las diez de la mañana (lahss dee-AYSS day lah mahn-YAH-nah)

noon
mediodía; las doce de la mañana (lahss DOH-say day lah mahn-YAH-nah)

one o'clock PM
la una de la tarde (lah OOH-nah day lah TAHR-day)

two o'clock PM
las dos de la tarde (lahss DOHSS day lah TAHR-day)

ten o'clock PM
las diez de la noche (lahss dee-AYSS day lah NOH-chay)

midnight
medianoche; las doce de la noche (may-dee-yah-NOH-chay; lahss DOH-say day lah NOH-chay)

Duration

_____ minute(s)
_____ minuto(s) (mee-NOOH-toh(ss))

_____ hour(s)
_____ hora(s) (OHR-ah(ss))

_____ day(s)
_____ día(s) (DEE-aah(ss))

_____ week(s)
_____ semana(s) (say-MAH-nah(ss))

_____ month(s)
_____ mes(es) (MAYSS-(ayss))

_____ year(s)
_____ año(s) (AH-nyoh(ss))

Days

today
hoy (OY)

yesterday
ayer(I-air)

tomorrow
mañana (surely you know how to pronounce this word: mahn-YAH-nah)

this week
esta semana (EHS-tah say-MAH-nah)

last week
la semana pasada (lah say-MAH-nah pah-SAH-dah)

next week
la semana que viene (lah say-MAH-nah kay vee-AYN-ay)

Monday
lunes (LOOH-nayss)

Tuesday
martes (MAHR-tayss)

Wednesday
miércoles (mee-AIR-coh-layss)

Thursday
jueves (WHAY-vayss)

Friday
viernes (vee-AIR-nayss)

Saturday
sábado (SAH-bah-doh)

Sunday
domingo (doh-MEEN-goh) The week begins on Monday.

Months

January
enero (eh-NEH-ro)

February
febrero (feh-BREH-ro)

March
marzo (MAR-zo)

April
abril (ah-BRIL)

May
mayo (MAY-o)

June
junio (HOO-nio)

July
julio (HOO-lio)

August
agosto (ah-GO-sto)

September
septiembre/setiembre (se-TEE-YEM-bray)

October
octubre (ok-TOO-brey)

November
noviembre (no-VEE-YEM-bray)

December
diciembre (dee-CEE-YEM-bray)

Writing Time & Date

When speaking, times can be given in AM/PM form, but with adding 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. In other cases, times are rendered in 24-hour format, with a colon separating hours and minutes:

9AM
9:00
12:30 PM
12:30
1 PM
13:00
10 PM
22:00
2 AM
2:00

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

October 3rd, 2003
3 de octubre de 2003
May 21st, 1997
21 de mayo de 1997

Day-month constructions (4 de julio, for example) are not usually abbreviated. In the rare cases than 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'êtat in Spain (1981)
11-S
11 de septiembre, date of the attack to the Twin Towers (2001) (and of the Chilean coup in 1973)