In Brazilian Portuguese, we use the verb ser meaning to be to say the time, as in:
The most common way to tell the time is to use the 12-hour clock system, followed by the expressions da manhã meaning in the morning, da tarde meaning in the afternoon, or da noite meaning in the evening/night.
In this article we’ll cover the most basic ways to give the time, but we’ll also look at some other ways that you can describe times or periods of the day. For example:
- Eu trabalho das 8 às 15h.Translation: I work from 8 to 5 pm.
- A reunião será às 9h.Translation: The meeting will be at 9.
Are you ready to get to know all these and other time-related expressions in Brazilian Portuguese? Keep reading this post!
How to ask for and tell the time in Brazilian Portuguese?
In Brazilian Portuguese, the most common way to ask for the time is with the question Que horas são? meaning What time is it?. The verb ser meaning to be is used in this question and again in the answer.
When you are giving the time, the verb ser functions as an impersonal verb that more-or-less means “there are” or “it is.” The verb is sometimes singular and sometimes plural:
Use the plural form são meaning are when the number on the clock is larger than one. This is because the verb agrees with the plural noun horas meaning hours.
- São cinco horas.Translation: It’s five o’clock.Literally: (There) are five hours
- São sete horas.Translation: It’s seven o’clock.Literally: (There) are seven hours.
Use the singular form of the verb ser, é meaning is, when the number on the clock is 1 or when you are using the expressions meio-dia meaning noon or meia-noite meaning midnight. This includes times that are exactly on the hour and times that are not exactly on the hour:
On the hour:
- É uma hora.Translation: It's one o'clock.Literally: lit. (It) is one hour.hora is singular!
- É meio-dia.Translation: It's noon.
- É meia-noite.Translation: It's midnight.Literally: (It) is midnight.
Not exactly on the hour:
- É uma e vinte.Translation: It’s one twenty.
- É meio-dia e dez.Translation: It’s twelve ten.
- É meia-noite e quarenta.Translation: It’s twelve forty.
When asking about the time, we most commonly use the plural form são meaning are, with the plural horas. However, in casual conversation you may hear the singular é meaning is, with the singular hora, instead:
- Que horas são?Translation: What time is it?Literally: What hours are there?
- Que hora é?Translation: What time is it?Literally: What hour is it? (informal)
There is another common way to ask the time in Brazilian Portuguese, in which we use the verb ter meaning to have instead of ser meaning to be.
Você tem horas?Translation: Do you know what time it is now?Literally: Do you have time?
How to say the time of day in Brazilian Portuguese?
To say the hours and minutes in Brazilian Portuguese, we use this formula: hour number + e meaning and + minute number. For example, if the time is 7:20, we might say:
It's also possible to add the words horas meaning hours and minutos meaning minutes after the numbers above, although omitting these words is more common in everyday spoken language.
In Brazilian Portuguese we write the time a bit differently as well. We do not use colons ( : ) but Instead, we write the letter h between the hours and minutes as in:
How to say a time that is exactly on the hour in Brazilian Portuguese?
In Brazilian Portuguese, there are three common ways to express the exact time:
State the hour number followed by the word hora(s) meaning hour(s):
É uma hora.Translation: It is one o’clock (1:00).São dez horas.Translation: It is ten o’clock (10:00).Use the expression em ponto meaning sharp after the number.
É uma em ponto.Translation: It is one sharp.São dez em ponto.Translation: It is ten sharp.Combine the two structures above, using the word hora , followed by the expression em ponto meaning sharp after the number.
É uma hora em ponto.Translation: It is one o'clock sharp.São dez horas em ponto.Translation: It is ten o'clock sharp.
All the forms above are common and frequent in Brazilian Portuguese.
What are some other ways to say the time in Brazilian Portuguese?
Though usually we give the time in Brazilian Portuguese with the hours + e + minutes format there are some other ways to say the time as well. It’s a bit like how, in English, you can say 5:45 either as “five forty-five” or as “quarter to six.” Let’s take a look at some of the other ways to say the time in Brazilian Portuguese:
Use the word meia meaning half for Xh30:
9h30 = nove e meiaTranslation: 9:30Literally: nine and half2h30 = duas e meia (hora)Translation: 2:30Literally: two and halfWe use this much like you would use “half past” + hour in English:
5h30 = cinco e meia (hora)Translation: 5:30 = half past five10h30 = dez e meia (hora)Translation: half past tenSometimes, in more formal contexts, it's also possible to use the word horas meaning hours.
2h30 = duas horas e meia (hora)Translation: 2:30 = half past two10h30 = dez horas e meia (hora)Translation: 10:30 = half past tenUsing the preposition para meaning to:
It’s common to use the preposition para meaning from, to in order to indicate that there is a certain amount of time left before the hour.
Most commonly, this is used in the expression quinze para as/a/o meaning a quarter to..., as in:
7h45 → São quinze para as oito.Translation: 7:45 → It’s a quarter to eight.But we can use the same construction with para as/a/o to refer to other increments of time before the next hour:
- 7h40 = vinte para as oitoTranslation: 7:40 = twenty to eight
- 7h50 = dez para as oitoTranslation: 7:50 = ten to eight
- 7h55 = cinco para as oitoTranslation: 7:55 = five to eight
- 11h55 = cinco para o meio-diaTranslation: 11:55 = five to noon
All these forms with para as/a/o are common in everyday language in Brazilian Portuguese.
When giving the time remaining before the hour, we often use the verb faltar meaning to lack instead of using ser meaning to be.
7h45 → Faltam quinze para as oito.Translation: 7:45 → lit. It lacks a quarter to eight.
We’ll talk more about the use of the preposition para meaning from, to and the verb faltar meaning to lack to refer to deadlines soon. Stay tuned!
How to say “am” and “pm” in Brazilian Portuguese?
In Brazilian Portuguese, we do not use the expressions “am” or “pm” and instead use the expressions da manhã, da tarde meaning in the afternoon, or da noite meaning in the evening/night.
- São onze da noite e o ônibus ainda não passou.Translation: It’s eleven at night and the bus hasn't come yet.
- Você vai sair agora? São cinco da manhã!Translation: Are you going out now? It's five in the morning!
You can also use the expression da madrugada to refer to some “am” times in Brazilian Portuguese. For example:
Both expressions da manhã and da madrugada refer to the “am” period, but they have slightly different meanings.
Da manhã refers to the period of time between sunrise and noon.
Da madrugada refers to the period of time between midnight and dawn.
How to tell the time informally vs. formally in Brazilian Portuguese?
Depending on whether you’re speaking formally or informally in Brazilian Portuguese, you’ll want to express the time differently to fit the social context.
Informal way:
In Brazilian Portuguese, the most common way to tell the time is by using the 12-hour clock system, which is also considered the informal way.
São onze horas e preciso dormir.Translation: It's eleven o’clock and I need to sleep.To clarify whether it is 11 am or pm, you can add the expressions da manhã meaning in the morning, da tarde meaning in the afternoon, or da noite meaning in the evening/night.
São onze horas da noite e preciso dormir.Translation: It's eleven o’clock at night and I need to sleep.Formal way:
If you want to sound formal when telling the time, you can use the 24-hour clock system, which appears in more specific contexts, such as in the healthcare and hospitality sectors.
São dezessete e trinta e o médico ainda não chegou ao hospital.Translation: It’s seventeen thirty and the doctor still hasn't arrived at the hospital.The way of telling the time as above is used in situations in which you want to be more precise and avoid any confusion between am and pm.
How to talk about the time of a scheduled event in Brazilian Portuguese?
To talk about the exact time of a scheduled event in Brazilian Portuguese, we use the contraction between the preposition a + the article before the time expressed.
Most often, this means that the time is preceded by the word às meaning at:
The contraction às is the most common before a time because it is a contraction between the preposition a meaning at and the feminine plural article as. Because the noun horas meaning hours is almost always in the plural form, and most times of day are built around this word, we will usually use às before the time of an event.
However, there are a few situations in which we use the feminine or masculine singular article in a contraction with the preposition a. For example:
Feminine singular: a + a = à
- à uma horaTranslation: at one o’clockhora is feminine singular
- à meia noiteTranslation: at midnightnoite is feminine singular
Masculine singular: a + o = ao
ao meio-diaTranslation: at noondia is masculine singular
Check out this chart of the contractions between a and the article!
How to talk about periods of time in Brazilian Portuguese?
When you want to talk about periods of time, such as stating that an event or action begins and ends at a certain time, you use the structure das…às… meaning from... to...or das…até as… meaning from... until....
- O jogo será das sete às nove.Translation: The game will be from seven to nine.
- O jogo será das sete até as nove.Translation: The game will be from seven until nine.
Both constructions das…às and das…até as are correct in Brazilian Portuguese, but das…às is used more often. Das…até as emphasizes the duration of the action slightly.
- João trabalha das dez às onze da noite.Translation: João works from 10 am to 11 pm.
- João trabalha das dez até as onze da noite.Translation: João works from 10 am until 11 pm.This slightly emphasizes that he works very long hours.
Adverbs of time
You can also use adverbs of time to more precisely indicate when an action or event occurs in Brazilian Portuguese.
- Vamos embora, está tarde!Translation: Let's go, it’s late!
- Eu vou chegar por volta das oito horas.Translation: I will arrive at around eight o’clock.
Here are a few common Brazilian Portuguese adverbs of time for talking about the time of day:
agora meaning now
depois meaning after
daqui a pouco meaning soon
tarde meaning afternoon
mais tarde meaning later
cedo meaning early
mais cedo meaning earlier
For some more information on adverbs in Brazilian Portuguese, take a look at our post on the topic!
To sum up
When expressing the time in Brazilian Portuguese, keep these tips in mind:
We usually use the verb ser meaning to be to talk about the current time. It’s more common to use ser in the plural form, but there are a few exceptions in which we use the singular form.
We can use the expression em ponto meaning sharp to say the exact hour.
We can say meia meaning half instead of trinta meaning thirty to refer to thirty minutes: meia hora meaning half an hour.
It’s also possible to use the preposition quinze para as/a/o to express “a quarter to,” as in São quinze para as dez meaning It's a quarter to ten.
The expressions da manhã, da tarde, and da noite are used to indicate the periods of the day, and it has similar meaning to the English expressions am/pm.
In Brazilian Portuguese, it is common to use the 12-hour clock system, although the 24-hour clock system appears in formal contexts or when it’s necessary to say the time very accurately.
Scheduled events or actions are indicated with the contraction às before the time expressed.
To express a period of time, we use the construction das…às… meaning from... to... or das…até às… meaning from…until….
Are you ready to practice telling the time in Brazilian Portuguese?
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