8:10 AM in Spanish | Say It Correctly Every Time

To say 8:10 a.m., use Son las ocho y diez de la mañana, the standard way to express that morning time in Spanish.

Learning how to say 8:10 a.m. in Spanish does more than teach one phrase. It shows how Spanish handles hours, minutes, and morning markers without “a.m.” and “p.m.” on the clock. Once this time feels natural, the rest of the Spanish clock starts to fall into place as well.

In this guide you’ll see the exact phrases you need, how they work, how to write 8:10 with digits, and how native speakers weave this time into daily life. By the end, you’ll sound clear and confident whenever 8:10 comes up in conversation or on a schedule.

8:10 AM In Spanish: Core Phrases

The most common way to say 8:10 a.m. in everyday Spanish is:

Son las ocho y diez de la mañana.

This sentence breaks down like this:

  • Son – the plural form of “to be” used for all times except one o’clock.
  • las ocho – “the eight,” meaning eight o’clock.
  • y diez – “and ten,” meaning ten minutes past.
  • de la mañana – “in the morning,” which replaces “a.m.” in normal speech.

If everyone already knows you’re talking about the morning, you can shorten it to:

Son las ocho y diez.

That still means “It’s eight ten,” and context handles whether it is morning or evening. Spanish learning sites that teach time, such as the Spanish time vocabulary list, show this same pattern with many other hours and minutes.

Writing 8:10 With Digits In Spanish

When you write the time in Spanish, you can use digits, words, or a mix of both. The orthography guidelines from the Real Academia Española explain that in narrative text, spelling out the time in words is often preferred, especially in formal writing.

For 8:10 a.m., you’ll see options such as:

  • Son las ocho y diez de la mañana. (all words)
  • Son las 8:10 de la mañana. (digits plus “de la mañana”)
  • A las 8:10 h de la mañana… (in schedules or more technical writing, with “h” for “hora”)

The Diccionario de la lengua española defines hora as a unit of time and as a specific moment in the day, so all of these options fit within standard written Spanish.

Why Time In Spanish Works This Way

To feel comfortable with “Son las ocho y diez de la mañana,” it helps to see the bigger pattern of Spanish time expressions. Spanish treats the hour as a feminine noun (la hora), which is why speakers say la una for one o’clock but las dos, las tres, las ocho for all other hours.

That leads to this rule:

  • Es la for one o’clock times – Es la una y diez (1:10).
  • Son las for every other hour – Son las ocho y diez (8:10).

Minutes from the hour use y plus the number of minutes. So 8:05 is Son las ocho y cinco, 8:15 is Son las ocho y cuarto, and 8:20 is Son las ocho y veinte. Resources that teach basic time expressions, such as the OpenLearn Spanish time lesson, follow this same pattern.

Instead of “a.m.” and “p.m.,” Spanish normally adds phrases for the time of day:

  • de la mañana – in the morning;
  • de la tarde – in the afternoon or early evening;
  • de la noche – at night.

So 8:10 a.m. is Son las ocho y diez de la mañana, while 8:10 p.m. is Son las ocho y diez de la noche. The digits stay the same; only the time-of-day phrase changes.

Common Time Phrases Around 8:10 In Spanish

Learners often meet 8:10 alongside other nearby times such as 8:00, 8:05, or 8:15. Seeing those together helps you spot patterns and switch smoothly between them when you talk.

Clock Time Spanish Sentence What It Expresses
8:00 a.m. Son las ocho de la mañana. Exactly eight in the morning.
8:05 a.m. Son las ocho y cinco de la mañana. Five minutes past eight in the morning.
8:10 a.m. Son las ocho y diez de la mañana. Ten minutes past eight in the morning.
8:15 a.m. Son las ocho y cuarto de la mañana. A quarter past eight in the morning.
8:20 a.m. Son las ocho y veinte de la mañana. Twenty minutes past eight in the morning.
7:50 a.m. Son las ocho menos diez de la mañana. Ten minutes to eight in the morning.
20:10 Son las ocho y diez de la noche. Ten past eight in the evening / at night.

Notice how Spanish sometimes counts forward from the hour with y and sometimes backward with menos. This gives you flexible ways to talk about times close to 8:10, no matter which side of the hour you mean.

Saying 8:10 In Spanish In Real Life

Now picture everyday moments: planning breakfast, catching a train, booking a lesson. In all these situations, 8:10 can appear either as the current time or as a future time on a schedule. You’ll hear it in questions and answers in slightly different forms.

Answering “What Time Is It?”

When someone asks ¿Qué hora es? and the clock shows 8:10 a.m., the natural reply is:

Son las ocho y diez de la mañana.

If the context already makes clear that it is morning, many speakers simply say:

Son las ocho y diez.

Teaching pages on time, such as the Enforex Spanish time examples, use the same kind of questions and answers, just with other hours like eight o’clock or eleven o’clock.

Answering “At What Time…?”

When the time refers to a planned event, Spanish uses a las plus the time. So if a meeting starts at 8:10 a.m., you would say:

  • La reunión empieza a las ocho y diez de la mañana.
  • Quedamos a las ocho y diez de la mañana. – “We are meeting at 8:10 a.m.”

The shift from son las to a las marks the difference between telling the current time and stating when something happens.

12-Hour Clock And 24-Hour Clock For 8:10

Spoken Spanish favors a 12-hour clock with de la mañana, de la tarde, de la noche. Written Spanish, especially in timetables or formal documents, often uses the 24-hour format. Guides to Spanish time, such as the Spanish time reference, point out this difference between spoken and written usage.

For 8:10 a.m., both approaches are common:

  • Son las ocho y diez de la mañana. – 12-hour style, spoken.
  • 08:10 h – 24-hour style, written, sometimes with the letter h.

The orthography note from the Real Academia Española mentions that in many types of text, writers can choose between words and figures. In narrative prose, you may see “a las ocho y diez de la mañana,” while in a timetable you’ll see “08:10” or “8:10 h.”

A.M. And P.M. In Spanish

Spanish can use a. m. and p. m., especially in international contexts, but daily speech still tends to favor phrases like de la mañana. Many teaching sites, including the OpenLearn unit on Spanish time of day, stress de la mañana, de la tarde, and de la noche instead of relying on English-style abbreviations.

So if you write an email in Spanish, “a las ocho y diez de la mañana” looks natural, while “a las 8:10 a. m.” appears more formal or technical.

Common Mistakes With 8:10 In Spanish

Many learners already know the numbers in Spanish but still feel unsure when they talk about 8:10 a.m. Here are mistakes that tend to appear and how to fix them.

Using “Es Las” Instead Of “Son Las”

One frequent slip is saying Es las ocho y diez. Spanish uses Es la only for one o’clock and its minutes. From two o’clock on, the correct form is Son las, so 8:10 must be Son las ocho y diez.

Forgetting The Article “Las”

Another common line is Son ocho y diez. It will often be understood, but it sounds incomplete. Native speakers reference the hour as a concrete unit, so they normally say Son las ocho y diez, not just Son ocho y diez.

Mixing Up Morning And Night

Because 8:10 can be either morning or night, learners sometimes use the wrong time-of-day phrase. To keep them straight:

  • 8:10 a.m.Son las ocho y diez de la mañana.
  • 8:10 p.m.Son las ocho y diez de la noche.

If you are not sure which one applies, you can leave off the time-of-day phrase and let context decide.

Mini Practice With 8:10 AM In Spanish

To make 8:10 a.m. feel automatic, it helps to see it inside natural sentences linked to daily routines. The next table gives sample lines you can adapt to your own schedule.

English Sentence Spanish Sentence Use
It is 8:10 in the morning. Son las ocho y diez de la mañana. Telling the current time.
The bus arrives at 8:10 in the morning. El autobús llega a las ocho y diez de la mañana. Transport schedule.
My class starts at 8:10. Mi clase empieza a las ocho y diez. Daily routine.
We meet at 8:10 for breakfast. Nos vemos a las ocho y diez para desayunar. Making plans.
The alarm rings at 8:10 every day. La alarma suena a las ocho y diez todos los días. Habit or routine.

Reading these sentences aloud, then swapping words like autobús, clase, or desayunar with details from your own life, helps fix both the time pattern and useful vocabulary at the same time.

Practice Plan To Learn Times Like 8:10

Once you have 8:10 a.m. in Spanish under control, you can build a short routine to gain control of every time on the clock. Here is a simple plan you can run through in just a few minutes each day.

Step 1: Say The Time On Every Clock You See

Whenever you look at your phone, laptop, or a wall clock, say the time in Spanish. If it shows 8:10 a.m., say Son las ocho y diez de la mañana. If the screen shows 21:10, try Son las nueve y diez de la noche. This habit keeps numbers and phrases active without any extra study session.

Step 2: Change Phone Reminders To Spanish

Set a few alarms or reminders with labels in Spanish that use 8:10 and similar times. You might write “Reunión a las ocho y diez” or “Despertador 8:10 de la mañana.” Seeing the time in Spanish on a device you already check during the day gives you repeated, natural exposure.

Step 3: Mix 8:10 With Other Tricky Times

Some times feel harder than others, such as 7:50 (siete cincuenta or ocho menos diez) or 8:35 (ocho y treinta y cinco or nueve menos veinticinco). Put 8:10 in a small list with these and say them in order, then in random order. This builds flexibility so you can talk about any moment near eight o’clock.

Step 4: Listen For Time Expressions

When you watch Spanish videos, lessons, or shows, pay close attention each time someone asks ¿Qué hora es? or ¿A qué hora?. Pause and repeat the answer out loud, even if it is not 8:10. Over time, your ear starts to catch the rhythm of Son las, the minutes, and the time-of-day phrases without needing to translate in your head.

Bringing 8:10 AM In Spanish Into Your Routine

Knowing how to say 8:10 a.m. in Spanish gives you a concrete example of how hours, minutes, and time-of-day labels work together. The core sentence Son las ocho y diez de la mañana follows the same pattern you will use for hundreds of other times during the day.

By pairing that phrase with a few written forms like “08:10 h,” paying attention to son las versus a las, and practicing with real-life sentences, you turn a single phrase into a solid base for all your Spanish time expressions.

References & Sources