'Son las' means exactly what??

Question

Hi, I'm taking an online Spanish course, and learning to tell time... It helps me to learn, if I can understand the reason for something. 'Son las' for telling time confuses me. Google translate says it means 'are the', and my husband says he thinks it means 'it is' as in: Son las seis y media (It is 6:30). I can certainly memorize it, and use it, but I'd really like to understand the usage.

Thanks! Tammy

Welcome to SpanishDict. - rac1, Apr 11, 2015

Thank you! - tammyalonzo33, Apr 11, 2015

Answer 1

What it really is is a shorter form of saying" Son las seis horas y media. Nothing strange about it. Jubilado just about had it right.

Answer 2

It means literally "They are the...." It doesn't make much sense except that "las" is the article for "horas", which is never said in telling times. "Son" is used because it agrees with the unstated subject "las horas".

This is one you definitely need to just forget about translating literally!

Hi mate, I like to simplify things , as we cannot translate word for word I just think of it as " it is 1 o'clock ,it are 2 o'clock " l know it sounds weird but it works for me . - ray76, Apr 11, 2015

Answer 3

Thanks to both of you. I appreciate the input.