A: Time Expressions | Spanish (Latin America) Grammar

In Spanish, the preposition a is the standard way to say at in time expressions. Whenever you want to specify the clock time at which something happens, you use a followed by the hour. It is also part of many fixed expressions that describe moments and frequencies.

Telling the clock time

The basic pattern for at + time is a la for one o'clock and a las for every other hour. Spanish uses the feminine article because the noun hora (hour) is understood.

Spanish	English
a la una	at one o'clock
a las dos	at two o'clock
a las tres y media	at three thirty
a las diez de la noche	at ten p.m.

La clase empieza a las ocho de la mañana.

Class starts at eight in the morning.

Te veo a las tres en el café.

I will see you at three at the café.

Notice the singular a la una: only one o'clock uses the singular article, because la hora is one.

The parts of the day

Spanish uses special forms for noon and midnight, and both begin with a or with the contraction al.

Spanish	English
al mediodía	at noon
a la medianoche	at midnight
al amanecer	at dawn
al atardecer	at dusk

Siempre almorzamos al mediodía.

We always have lunch at noon.

Los pescadores salen al amanecer.

The fishermen go out at dawn.

Morning, afternoon, or evening

When you give a clock time and want to clarify whether it is morning, afternoon, or night, use de la mañana, de la tarde, and de la noche. Spanish does not use a.m. and p.m. as commonly as English in everyday speech.

El avión sale a las siete de la noche.

The plane leaves at seven in the evening.

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Use de la (not en la) when tying a clock time to a part of the day: a las cuatro *de la tarde, not a las cuatro **en la tarde*.

A veces and other frequency expressions

A also appears in fixed expressions about how often or when something happens.

Spanish	English
a veces	sometimes
a menudo	often
a diario	daily
a tiempo	on time
a última hora	at the last minute

A veces cenamos en casa y a veces salimos.

Sometimes we have dinner at home and sometimes we go out.

El tren siempre llega a tiempo.

The train always arrives on time.

Age and time elapsed

A also introduces age in some expressions, though this use is less common in everyday conversation.

A los dieciocho años, me fui a estudiar a la capital.

At eighteen, I went to study in the capital.

Summary

To talk about when something happens at a specific clock time, reach for a:

Use a la for one o'clock, a las for all others.
Use al mediodía and a la medianoche for noon and midnight.
Use de la mañana/tarde/noche to specify the part of the day.
Many frequency expressions begin with a: a veces, a menudo, a diario.

For broader time expressions — years, months, seasons — Spanish switches to en. Compare this page with en for time and transport to see the difference clearly.