Learn Portuguese (Portugal): São quatro e meia.

São quatro e meia.

It is half past four.

Breakdown of São quatro e meia.

Questions & Answers about São quatro e meia.

Why does the sentence start with São (they are) instead of É (it is)?

In Portuguese, time is told using the verb ser (to be). Because four hours is plural, we use the plural form são (literally, "they are four"). You only use É for singular times: one o'clock, midday, and midnight.

Why do we use the feminine meia instead of the masculine meio?

Meia here stands for meia hora (half an hour). Because the word hora (hour) is feminine in Portuguese, we must use the feminine word for half, which is meia.

Can I add the word horas to this sentence?

Yes, you could completely correctly say São quatro horas e meia. However, just like in English, it is very common and natural to drop the word for "hours" when the context makes it obvious you are telling the time.

This lesson is teaching à and às. Why aren't we using às here?

The contraction às means "at the" and is used to say at what time an event happens (for example, "The class is at four" is A aula é às quatro). Because this sentence is just stating what the current time is right now, we only need the verb São, with no need for an "at" preposition.