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La recepción abre a las ocho de la mañana.

La recepción abre a las ocho de la mañana.
The reception opens at eight in the morning.
FromLesson 25inHardcore Spanish (Latin America)

Breakdown of La recepción abre a las ocho de la mañana.

la mañana
the morning
de
of
abrir
to open
las
the
a
at
la recepción
the reception
ocho
eight

Questions & Answers about La recepción abre a las ocho de la mañana.

Why is recepción feminine, and why do we say la recepción?
In Spanish, almost all nouns ending in -ción are feminine. That’s why you use the feminine article la instead of el.
Why do we use abre instead of abren?
Abre is the third-person singular present form of abrir, matching the singular noun la recepción. If we were talking about a plural subject (e.g. los hoteles abren), we’d use abren.
What does the preposition a mean in abre a las ocho?
Here, a means “at” when referring to a specific time. So abre a las ocho literally means “opens at eight.”
Why do we say a las ocho instead of a ocho?
When telling time in Spanish, you generally include the definite article before the hour: a las ocho. The only exception is one o’clock, which is a la una (singular).
Why add de la mañana? Can’t we say por la mañana or just en la mañana?

De la mañana specifies an exact time in the morning (AM).
• Por la mañana is more general, like “in the morning,” without pinpointing a clock hour.
• En la mañana is less common in Latin American Spanish when giving a precise time; you’d usually say de la mañana or abbreviate with a.m.

Is it okay to write 8:00 a.m. instead of ocho de la mañana?
Yes. In informal contexts (emails, schedules) you can write 8:00 a.m. or 8 a.m., but in formal or narrative text you often spell it out: a las ocho de la mañana.
How would I say “The reception opens at 1 PM”?
Use a la una de la tarde. For example: La recepción abre a la una de la tarde.
How do you pronounce recepción?
In Latin America, pronounce it [re-sep-SYON], with the stress on the last syllable. (In Spain you might hear [re-θep-ˈsjon], with a “th” sound for c before i.)
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“How does verb conjugation work in Spanish?”
Spanish verbs change form based on the subject, tense, and mood. Regular verbs follow predictable patterns depending on whether they end in ‑ar, ‑er, or ‑ir. For example, "hablar" (to speak) becomes "hablo" (I speak), "hablas" (you speak), and "habla" (he/she speaks) in the present tense.

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