What's the difference between a la and a las concerning time?

Question

I don't understand why sometimes at is translated as las and other times as la when placed before a time.

What's the difference?

at 9:00= a las nueve at 10:00= a las diez at 11:00= a las once

****at 1:00= a la una****

Thank you!

Thank you!!! - jhy842, Dec 1, 2010

Answer 1

If it helps you to understand when to use which, then think of the hours of the day as:

a la una [hora] at 1:00

a las dos [horas] at 2:00

a las tres [horas] at 3:00

a las cuatro [horas] at 4:00

etc.

Similar to bells on a ship. At four bells, etc.

Thank you so much!! Love the bells example, I got it right away:-) - jhy842, Dec 1, 2010

Answer 2

One ( una ) is singular the others are plural.

Thanks! - jhy842, Dec 1, 2010

Answer 3

La is used only for 1 oclock

Es la una

las is used for everything else

Son las cinco

Son las tres y media

Thank you!! - jhy842, Dec 1, 2010

Answer 4

You use la for "Es la una." (It's one o'clock.) For the hours from 2 to 12, you use "son". "Son" is plural for "es". Egs: Son las dos. (It's 2 o'clock). Or, son las once. (It's 11 o'clock.)

Lesson 1.8 discusses numbers and time at http://www.spanishdict.com/learn/show/9.