What is the difference between van a ser and va a ser

Question

I am learning Spanish and this thought came to me when telling time. What is the difference between van a ser, va a ser, and son las?

Welcome to the forum. Please use proper punctuation. We have English learners here too. Thanks! - francobollo, May 21, 2013

Answer 1

Your question seems to be related to telling time.

Va a ser la 1 de la tarde (1:00 o'clock is the only time of day that takes a singular verb). The rest take the plural as below:

Van a ser las 3 de la tarde.

Son las dos de la tarde.

Answer 2

Van a ser = they are going to be and Va a ser = he/she or it is going to be, but I have never heard time expressions used this way it is normal to say "es la una" or "son las dos" for example and to give approximate time a guess for example you would use the future tense of ser "será las cuatro" it will be about four o'clock"

Answer 3

The singular or plural depends on whether you are talking about hours (plural) or one hour or singular time like morning