Lecture Notes: Sentence Structure and Telling Time in Spanish

Introduction

• Focus on developing sentence structure.
• Transition from staged or canned conversations to creating our own sentences.
• Three videos:
  1. Telling time
  2. Dates and days of the week
  3. Activities (what we are going to do and have to do)
• Videos should be watched in order as they build on each other.

Telling Time in Spanish

Basic Phrases

• Es la una: It's one o'clock.
• After one o'clock, use the plural form:
  • Son las dos: It's two o'clock.
  • Son las tres: It's three o'clock, etc., up to son las doce (12 o'clock).

Adding Minutes (First Half Hour)

• Use "y" to add minutes:
  • Es la una y uno: It's 1:01.
  • Es la una y dos: It's 1:02, and so on.
• Use gender-specific articles because "la hora" (hour) is feminine and "el minuto" (minute) is masculine.

Subtracting Minutes (Second Half Hour)

• Some older speakers subtract minutes from the next hour:
  • Son las dos menos veinte: It's 20 minutes to 2 (1:40).
• Common among older generations and certain regions.

Fractions of an Hour

• Media: Half past (e.g., Son las nueve y media: 9:30)
• Cuarto: Quarter past (e.g., Son las ocho y cuarto: 8:15)

Practice Examples

• Practice converting times using the methods above.
• Recognize variations depending on region and age group.

Expressions for Specific Times

Midday and Midnight

• El mediodía: Noon
• La medianoche: Midnight

On the Dot

• En punto: Exactly (e.g., Son las cuatro en punto: It's exactly 4 o'clock)

Morning, Afternoon, and Night

• De la mañana: From sunrise to noon.
• De la tarde: From 12:01 p.m. to nightfall.
• De la noche: After nightfall until bedtime.

Creating Sentences with Time

Asking About Time

• ¿A qué hora?: At what time?
• Used to ask when an event occurs (e.g., ¿A qué hora es la clase de español?)
• Responses use "es a las..." for times after 1.

Practice Questions

• Students practice forming sentences to indicate when events occur:
  • El programa es a las once y media de la mañana: The program is at 11:30 a.m.

Conclusion

• Homework: Practice the exercises from the video.
• Office hours available for further clarification.