A las once suelo tener hambre, pero hoy he desayunado tarde.

At eleven I usually get hungry, but today I had breakfast late.

Breakdown of A las once suelo tener hambre, pero hoy he desayunado tarde.

• yo: I
• tener: to have
• hoy: today
• pero: but

Questions & Answers about A las once suelo tener hambre, pero hoy he desayunado tarde.

Why does the sentence start with A las once?

A las once means at eleven o’clock.

In Spanish, the usual pattern for clock time is:

• a la
  • singular hour: a la una
• a las
  • plural hour: a las dos, a las once

So A las once is the normal way to say at eleven.

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What does suelo mean here?

Suelo comes from the verb soler, which means to usually do something or to tend to do something.

So:

• suelo tener hambre = I usually get hungry / I’m usually hungry

A very important point: soler is normally followed by an infinitive.

Examples:

• Suelo comer a las dos. = I usually eat at two.
• Solemos salir los sábados. = We usually go out on Saturdays.

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Why is it suelo tener hambre instead of just a simple present like tengo hambre?