Portuguese/Contents/L1/Lesson Seven - What Time Is It?

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Here are the numbers 1-10 in Portuguese. It is essential that you learn these by heart. Next is a table with some other numbers in portuguese.

Now, to our usual dialogue.

In Portuguese, the way you tell the time is similar to English. You first say the hour number, then the word e and finally the minute number. Ex: São sete e vinte. - It's seven twenty. For half an hour, you say e meia in the place of "and a half" or e trinta as in thirty and in case the minute number is very close to the full hour (bigger than 30), it is more common to say the remaining time to the next hour, using the structure: São + remaining time in minutes + para a(s) + next hour. Ex: São duas e meia. - It's two and a half. São cinco para as quatro - It's five to four. Also, there are synonyms for midnight and midday in Portuguese: meia-noite and meio-dia, respectively. These words are used the same way. Ex: É meio-dia. - It's midday.

Now, let's do some exercises:

1)Tell the times below in Portuguese:

a)10:30 PM b)8:55 AM c)3:15 AM d)7:25 AM e)1:00 PM f)4:40 PM g)12:50 PM h)11:55 AM

Answers:

1) a)São dez e meia. b)São cinco para as nove. c)São três e quinze. d)São sete e vinte e cinco. e)É uma hora.* f)São vinte para as cinco. g)São dez para uma. h)São cinco para meio-dia.


 * Note that since one hour is singular, the verb ser is in the singular form.

de:Portugiesisch: Lektionen: Wieviel Uhr ist es?