Spanish 1 Quiz: Telling Time And Schedules
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Telling Time And SchedulesQuestion 1 of 10

Marta le pregunta a su compañera de clase: '¿A qué hora empieza la clase de español?' Su compañera responde: 'Empieza a las dos y cuarto de la tarde.'

Based on the conversation, which of the following correctly expresses the time the Spanish class begins in digital clock format?

2:15 PM — because 'las dos y cuarto' means two hours plus one quarter of an hour, placing the time at fifteen minutes past two in the afternoon
2:45 PM — because 'cuarto' refers to three-quarters of the hour, placing the time at forty-five minutes past two in the afternoon
1:45 PM — because 'cuarto' signals that one quarter remains before the next hour, placing the time at quarter to two in the afternoon
2:30 PM — because 'cuarto' is sometimes used informally to mean half past the hour, placing the time at thirty minutes past two in the afternoon
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Spanish 1 Quiz

Spanish 1 Quiz: Telling Time And Schedules

Practice Telling Time And Schedules in Spanish 1 with focused quiz questions that help you check what you know, review explanations, and build confidence with test-style prompts.

What this quiz covers

This quiz focuses on Telling Time And Schedules, giving you a quick way to practice the rules, question types, and explanations that matter most for Spanish 1.

How to use this quiz

Try each quiz question before looking at the correct answer. Use the explanations to review missed ideas, then come back to similar questions until the pattern feels familiar.

All questions

Question 1

Marta le pregunta a su compañera de clase: '¿A qué hora empieza la clase de español?' Su compañera responde: 'Empieza a las dos y cuarto de la tarde.'

Based on the conversation, which of the following correctly expresses the time the Spanish class begins in digital clock format?

  1. 2:15 PM — because 'las dos y cuarto' means two hours plus one quarter of an hour, placing the time at fifteen minutes past two in the afternoon (correct answer)
  2. 2:45 PM — because 'cuarto' refers to three-quarters of the hour, placing the time at forty-five minutes past two in the afternoon
  3. 1:45 PM — because 'cuarto' signals that one quarter remains before the next hour, placing the time at quarter to two in the afternoon
  4. 2:30 PM — because 'cuarto' is sometimes used informally to mean half past the hour, placing the time at thirty minutes past two in the afternoon
Explanation: When reading time expressions in Spanish, you need to recognize a small set of key vocabulary words that correspond to specific minute values. The phrase structure "las [hour] y [minutes]" means you add the minutes to the hour, while "las [hour] menos [minutes]" means you subtract. In the passage, the class begins at "las dos y cuarto de la tarde." Breaking this down: dos means two, y means "and" (or "plus"), cuarto literally means "quarter" — one quarter of sixty minutes, which equals exactly 15 minutes. De la tarde confirms it's the afternoon, so PM. Putting it together: 2:00 + 15 minutes = 2:15 PM, making A the correct answer. Choice B mistakes cuarto for three-quarters of an hour (45 minutes). That would only apply if the phrase were "las tres menos cuarto," meaning quarter to three — a completely different construction. Choice C makes a similar structural error: "quarter to two" in Spanish would be "las dos menos cuarto" (two minus a quarter), not "las dos y cuarto." The word menos is the critical signal for subtraction, and it's absent here. Choice D is simply a fabrication — cuarto never means "half past." The word for half in Spanish time is media, as in "las dos y media" (2:30). A reliable memory trick: y = add, menos = subtract, cuarto = 15, media = 30. If you memorize these four anchors, you can decode almost any Spanish time expression quickly and confidently.

Question 2

El horario del gimnasio dice: 'Clases de yoga: lunes y miércoles a la una de la tarde. Clases de natación: martes y jueves a las ocho de la mañana. Clases de zumba: viernes a las siete y cuarto de la noche.'

According to the gym schedule, if today is Thursday and it is currently 7:00 AM, how much time remains before the next scheduled class begins, and what is that class?

  1. One hour remains until the swimming class, because swimming is offered on Thursdays at 8:00 AM and the current time is 7:00 AM, leaving exactly sixty minutes (correct answer)
  2. Six hours remain until the yoga class, because yoga is the next class listed and begins at 1:00 PM, which is six hours after 7:00 AM on Thursday
  3. One hour and fifteen minutes remain until the zumba class, because zumba begins at 7:15 and the current time is 7:00 AM on Thursday
  4. Thirteen hours remain until the swimming class, because the next swimming session is the following Tuesday at 8:00 AM, which is more than a day away from Thursday
Explanation: When reading a schedule-based question in Spanish, your first job is to extract the correct day and time information from the passage, then apply simple time arithmetic. Here, the schedule tells you: natación (swimming) occurs on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:00 AM — that's "martes y jueves a las ocho de la mañana." Since today is Thursday and the current time is 7:00 AM, you need to identify the very next class that will occur. Swimming is scheduled for Thursday at 8:00 AM, which is just one hour away. The difference between 7:00 AM and 8:00 AM is exactly 60 minutes, making A the correct answer — one hour remains until swimming class begins. Choice B incorrectly jumps to yoga, which meets on Mondays and Wednesdays ("lunes y miércoles"), not Thursdays. Even if yoga were relevant today, it would not be the next upcoming class since swimming comes first on Thursday morning. Choice C confuses the time of day — zumba is on Fridays at 7:15 PM ("viernes a las siete y cuarto de la noche"), not 7:15 AM on Thursday. The Spanish word noche (night/evening) is the key clue that eliminates this option entirely. Choice D overcorrects by skipping Thursday's swimming session entirely and jumping to the following Tuesday, ignoring that swimming is offered today. A useful strategy: always identify both the day and the time of day (using mañana, tarde, or noche) before doing any time calculations. Missing either detail is the most common trap on schedule-reading questions.

Question 3

A student wants to say 'The library opens at 1:00 PM' in Spanish. Which sentence is grammatically correct AND uses the appropriate time expression?

  1. 'La biblioteca abre a las una de la tarde' — using 'las' to agree with the feminine noun 'hora' and 'de la tarde' to specify the afternoon
  2. 'La biblioteca abre a la una de la tarde' — using the singular article 'la' because one o'clock is the only hour that requires the singular form in Spanish (correct answer)
  3. 'La biblioteca abre a las uno de la tarde' — using 'las' for the plural feminine agreement and 'uno' as the cardinal number for one o'clock
  4. 'La biblioteca abre en la una de la tarde' — using the preposition 'en' to indicate a point in time and 'la' for the singular feminine article
Explanation: When telling time in Spanish, two key rules are always at play: which article to use (la vs. las) and which preposition introduces the time (a vs. en). Master these, and questions like this become straightforward. In Spanish, clock times are expressed using the feminine article because the word hora (hour) is feminine and implied. For all hours except one o'clock, you use the plural las — "son las dos," "son las tres," etc. However, one o'clock is the single exception: because it refers to just one hour, it takes the singular article la. So the correct phrasing is a la una, not a las una. To specify afternoon, you add de la tarde after the time. That makes option B — La biblioteca abre a la una de la tarde — the correct sentence. Option A fails because it uses las una, mixing a plural article with the singular hour — grammatically inconsistent. Option C makes two errors: it keeps las (wrong, as explained) and uses uno instead of una. Since hora is feminine, the number must also be feminine: una, not uno. Option D uses the preposition en instead of a. In Spanish, you always use a to express the time something happens ("at what time") — en is not used for clock times. A handy memory trick: think "one is lonely" — one o'clock stands alone with the singular la, while every other hour gets the plural las.

Question 4

Diálogo entre dos estudiantes: Carlos: '¿A qué hora sale el autobús?' Luisa: 'Sale a las cuatro menos diez de la tarde.'

Carlos arrives at the bus stop at 3:45 PM. Based on Luisa's statement, which conclusion is most accurate?

  1. Carlos arrives fifteen minutes early, because 'las cuatro menos diez' means 4:10 PM and he arrives at 3:45 PM, giving him twenty-five minutes before departure
  2. Carlos arrives exactly on time, because 'las cuatro menos diez' means 3:45 PM, which is precisely when he arrives at the bus stop
  3. Carlos misses the bus by five minutes, because 'las cuatro menos diez' means 3:40 PM and he arrives at 3:45 PM, five minutes after departure
  4. Carlos arrives five minutes early, because the bus departs at 3:50 PM and he arrives at 3:45 PM, giving him five minutes to spare before departure (correct answer)
Explanation: When telling time in Spanish, the phrase "menos" is your signal that you're subtracting minutes from the upcoming hour. Think of it like a countdown: "cuatro menos diez" literally means "four minus ten," so you take 4:00 PM and subtract 10 minutes, landing on 3:50 PM. This is the bus's departure time. Since Carlos arrives at 3:45 PM and the bus leaves at 3:50 PM, he arrives five minutes early — making D the correct answer. Here's why the other choices fall apart: A claims "las cuatro menos diez" means 4:10 PM, which would only be true if the phrase used "y" instead of "menos" (e.g., "las cuatro y diez" = 4:10 PM). The word "menos" always subtracts, never adds. B says Carlos arrives exactly on time, interpreting the time as 3:45 PM — but 3:45 PM would be expressed as "las cuatro menos cuarto" (four minus a quarter-hour), not "menos diez." C claims the bus left at 3:40 PM, which would require "menos veinte" (four minus twenty), not "menos diez." A helpful memory trick: whenever you see "[hour] menos [minutes]", just subtract those minutes from the next hour on the clock. The structure is always upcoming hour − minutes = actual time. Watch for this pattern especially when time expressions appear in dialogues — exam questions love testing whether you can correctly convert "menos" phrasing into a real clock time before drawing conclusions.

Question 5

Un estudiante escribe en su agenda: — Clase de biología: 8:00 AM — Almuerzo con amigos: 12:30 PM — Práctica de fútbol: 5:45 PM — Tarea de español: 8:00 PM

The student wants to tell a friend in Spanish when football practice takes place. Which sentence correctly expresses the time 5:45 PM in Spanish?

  1. 'La práctica es a las seis y cuarto de la tarde' — expressing 5:45 by adding fifteen minutes to six o'clock and using 'de la tarde' for the afternoon
  2. 'La práctica es a las cinco y cuarto de la tarde' — expressing 5:45 by adding fifteen minutes to five o'clock and using 'de la tarde' for the afternoon
  3. 'La práctica es a las seis menos cuarto de la tarde' — expressing 5:45 by subtracting fifteen minutes from six o'clock and using 'de la tarde' for the afternoon (correct answer)
  4. 'La práctica es a las cinco menos cuarto de la tarde' — expressing 5:45 by subtracting fifteen minutes from five o'clock and using 'de la tarde' for the afternoon
Explanation: When telling time in Spanish, you have two strategies: adding minutes to the current hour (y = "and/plus") or subtracting minutes from the next hour (menos = "minus/less"). For 5:45, the subtraction method is the natural choice — Spanish speakers typically say "six minus fifteen" rather than "five and forty-five." So 5:45 PM becomes las seis menos cuarto de la tarde — literally "six minus a quarter." Cuarto means "quarter" (15 minutes), and since 6:00 minus 0:15 equals 5:45, this is perfectly accurate. You're referencing the upcoming hour (six) and subtracting a quarter-hour. The phrase de la tarde ("of the afternoon/evening") correctly applies here because 5:45 falls in the afternoon hours, making option C the correct answer. Looking at the wrong choices: A says las seis y cuarto, which means 6:15 — it adds fifteen minutes to six instead of subtracting, giving you the wrong time entirely. B says las cinco y cuarto, which means 5:15 — it adds fifteen minutes to five, again producing the wrong time. D says las cinco menos cuarto, which means 4:45 — it subtracts fifteen minutes from five, landing a full hour early. A quick tip: when the minutes are 31–59, Spanish often uses the next hour with menos to count down. Think of it like a countdown — if it's 5:45, you're 15 minutes away from six, so say "six minus fifteen." Memorizing y cuarto (X:15), y media (X:30), and menos cuarto (X:45) will cover most time questions you'll see.

Question 6

Un anuncio en la radio dice: 'El programa de noticias comienza a las siete y media de la mañana y termina a las ocho en punto. El programa de música empieza inmediatamente después y dura dos horas y cuarto.'

According to the radio announcement, at what time does the music program end?

  1. 10:00 AM — because the music program begins at 8:00 AM and 'dos horas y cuarto' is rounded to two full hours, placing the end at ten o'clock
  2. 10:30 AM — because the music program begins at 7:30 AM when the news starts and lasts two hours and fifteen minutes, placing the end at ten thirty
  3. 10:15 AM — because the music program begins at 8:00 AM and lasts two hours and fifteen minutes, ending at ten fifteen in the morning (correct answer)
  4. 10:45 AM — because the music program begins at 8:30 AM after a thirty-minute transition and lasts two hours and fifteen minutes, ending at ten forty-five
Explanation: When a Spanish listening question asks you to calculate a time based on duration, you need to carefully track two things: the starting point and the exact duration — both must come directly from the passage without any assumptions or shortcuts. The passage tells you the news program ends at las ocho en punto (8:00 AM exactly), and the music program begins inmediatamente después — immediately after, meaning 8:00 AM with no gap. The duration is dos horas y cuarto, which translates to two hours and one quarter-hour, or two hours and fifteen minutes. Adding that to 8:00 AM gives you 10:15 AM, confirming that C is correct. Choice A makes the mistake of rounding dos horas y cuarto down to two full hours, ignoring the cuarto (quarter-hour, 15 minutes) entirely. In Spanish, cuarto in time expressions always means 15 minutes — never ignore it. Choice B incorrectly uses 7:30 AM as the music program's start time, confusing when the news begins with when the music begins; the music starts when the news ends, which is 8:00 AM. Choice D invents a 30-minute transition period that the passage never mentions — inmediatamente después means immediately after, with zero delay. A useful study tip: in Spanish time problems, always build a mental timeline. Write down each event's start and end as you read. Also, memorize these key fractional time words — y cuarto (15 min), y media (30 min), and menos cuarto (45 min past the previous hour) — they appear constantly on Spanish-1 assessments.

Question 7

Which of the following time expressions would a Spanish speaker use to refer to a movie that begins at 9:00 PM, distinguishing it correctly from a morning or afternoon time?

  1. 'a las nueve de la tarde' — because 'de la tarde' covers all hours after noon through the evening, making it appropriate for any PM time including 9:00 PM
  2. 'a las nueve de la noche' — because 'de la noche' refers to nighttime hours, typically used from approximately 8:00 or 9:00 PM onward, which includes a 9:00 PM showing (correct answer)
  3. 'a las nueve de la mañana' — because 'de la mañana' can be applied to any nine-o'clock time since nine appears on both the AM and PM sides of the clock
  4. 'a las nueve del mediodía' — because 'del mediodía' serves as a general afternoon and evening term that applies to any PM hour, including nine at night
Explanation: When telling time in Spanish, you don't simply say AM or PM — instead, you specify the part of the day using phrases like de la mañana, de la tarde, or de la noche. The key is knowing which period of day each expression covers, because they don't divide the day the same way English's AM/PM does. Spanish divides the day into three periods: la mañana (morning, roughly midnight to noon), la tarde (afternoon/early evening, roughly noon to around 8:00–9:00 PM), and la noche (night, roughly 8:00–9:00 PM onward). A 9:00 PM movie falls squarely in nighttime territory, so the correct expression is "a las nueve de la noche" (B). This phrase precisely signals that the nine o'clock in question is at night, eliminating any ambiguity. Choice A is tempting but wrong — de la tarde typically covers afternoon and early evening, ending around 8:00 or 9:00 PM. Using it for a 9:00 PM showing would sound unnatural to native speakers, who would clearly associate that hour with la noche. Choice C is completely off: de la mañana refers exclusively to morning hours, and claiming it works for any "nine o'clock" because nine appears on both halves of the clock reflects a misunderstanding of how Spanish time works. Choice D invents a usage that doesn't exist — del mediodía means "noon" specifically and is never used as a general afternoon or evening term. Your study tip: memorize the three Spanish time-of-day periods and their approximate boundaries (mañana → tarde → noche), and remember that noche starts earlier than you might expect — around 8:00 or 9:00 PM.

Question 8

A Spanish-speaking friend tells you: 'La reunión es a las tres menos veinte.' Which of the following correctly interprets this time?

  1. 3:20 — because 'menos veinte' indicates adding twenty minutes to the base hour of three
  2. 2:40 — because 'menos veinte' means subtracting twenty minutes from three o'clock, placing the time at twenty minutes before three (correct answer)
  3. 3:40 — because 'menos' signals that the time is forty minutes into the current hour, referencing the hour of three
  4. 2:20 — because 'menos veinte' subtracts twenty minutes from the preceding hour of two, placing the time at twenty past two
Explanation: When telling time in Spanish, it helps to think of the clock as divided into two halves. For times in the first half of the hour (minutes 1–30), you say the hour plus the minutes. For times in the second half (minutes 31–59), Spanish speakers typically count down to the next hour using the word menos (minus/less). So "las tres menos veinte" literally means "three minus twenty," or twenty minutes before three — which is 2:40. That makes B the correct interpretation. Choice A is a common trap: it treats "menos veinte" as if "menos" means adding twenty minutes to three, giving 3:20. This reverses the meaning of "menos" entirely — the word means subtract, not add. Choice C goes even further astray by claiming "menos" signals forty minutes into the hour of three (3:40), which confuses "menos" with "y" (the word used for adding minutes, e.g., "las tres y cuarenta"). Choice D misreads the structure by subtracting twenty from the preceding hour (two), landing at 2:20 — but the reference hour in "menos" phrasing is always the upcoming hour, not the one that just passed. A handy tip: whenever you see "menos" in a time expression, identify the hour stated, then subtract the minutes given. The result is always a time before that stated hour. Think of it as a countdown: "tres menos veinte" = the clock is counting down, 20 minutes still to go before 3:00.

Question 9

Which of the following sentences correctly asks 'What time is it?' in Spanish, AND would receive the response 'Son las once y media'?

  1. '¿Qué hora es?' asked at 11:30, because that question asks for the current time and 'son las once y media' correctly expresses half past eleven using the plural verb 'son' (correct answer)
  2. '¿A qué hora es?' asked at 11:30, because that question requests the current time and 'son las once y media' is the standard reply using the plural form
  3. '¿Qué hora es?' asked at 1:30, because 'son las once y media' uses 'son' to agree with the plural subject and describes any time after eleven o'clock
  4. '¿Cuándo es?' asked at 11:30, because that question inquires about time generally and 'son las once y media' answers with the correct plural verb for eleven thirty
Explanation: When asking about time in Spanish, you need to master two things: the correct question phrase and how verb agreement works with time expressions. "¿Qué hora es?" is the standard way to ask "What time is it?" — literally "What hour is it?" The response uses either es (singular) or son (plural) depending on the hour. Use es only for one o'clock ("Es la una"); use son for all other hours because they're treated as plural. "Once y media" means "eleven thirty" — y media literally means "and a half." Answer A is correct because "¿Qué hora es?" is the proper question for current time, 11:30 is correctly expressed as "son las once y media" (plural son because it's not one o'clock), and the context (asking at 11:30) perfectly matches the response. Answer B fails because "¿A qué hora es?" means "At what time is it?" — a grammatically awkward phrase used when asking when something happens (like "At what time does the movie start?"), not for asking the current time. Answer C is wrong on two counts: if it's 1:30, the correct response would be "Es la una y media" using singular es, not son. "Son las once y media" describes only 11:30, not "any time after eleven." Answer D fails because "¿Cuándo es?" means "When is it?" and refers to dates or events, not clock time — an entirely different concept from "¿Qué hora es?" Study tip: Memorize this rule — es la una (only for 1:00), son las... (everything else). This singular/plural distinction is a classic Spanish-1 exam trap.

Question 10

A professor says: 'El examen es el lunes a las diez en punto.' A student responds: 'Perfecto, llego a las diez menos cinco.' Which of the following best describes the student's plan?

  1. The student plans to arrive five minutes late, because 'las diez menos cinco' equals 10:05 AM, which is five minutes after the exam begins at 10:00 AM
  2. The student plans to arrive ten minutes early, because 'menos cinco' signals a five-minute buffer on each side of the hour, leaving ten minutes before the exam starts
  3. The student plans to arrive exactly on time, because 'las diez menos cinco' is an informal way of saying 'ten o'clock sharp,' equivalent to 'las diez en punto'
  4. The student plans to arrive five minutes early, because 'las diez menos cinco' means ten o'clock minus five minutes, which equals 9:55 AM, giving the student five minutes before the 10:00 AM exam (correct answer)
Explanation: When telling time in Spanish, the key concept to master is how to express times before the hour. Spanish uses "menos" (minus/less) to count backward from the upcoming hour. So "las diez menos cinco" literally means "ten minus five," pointing to the time five minutes before 10:00 — in other words, 9:55 AM. That logic confirms D is correct. The student plans to arrive at 9:55 AM, which is five minutes before the 10:00 AM exam. The phrase functions exactly like a subtraction problem: 10:00 − 5 minutes = 9:55. Here's why the other options miss the mark: A claims the student will arrive late at 10:05, which would actually be expressed as "las diez y cinco" (ten plus five). Confusing "menos" with "y" is a classic trap — one subtracts, the other adds. B invents a fictional "buffer on each side" rule that simply does not exist in Spanish time-telling; "menos cinco" means exactly five minutes before, nothing more. C incorrectly equates "las diez menos cinco" with "las diez en punto" (ten o'clock sharp) — these are completely different expressions. "En punto" means exactly on the hour, while "menos cinco" specifies a time before it. A handy memory trick: think of a clock face. "Y" (and) moves you forward past the hour (like 10:10 = las diez y diez), while "menos" moves you backward toward the hour (like 9:50 = las diez menos diez). Keeping this visual in mind will help you decode any time expression quickly.