How Do You Say 6 O’Clock in Spanish? | Everyday Time Phrases

The clearest way to say 6:00 is son las seis en punto, often shortened to son las seis in everyday Spanish conversations.

Getting Comfortable With 6 O’Clock In Spanish

You see a clock, it hits six, and your brain freezes between son las seis, a las seis, and las seis de la tarde. If that sounds familiar, you are not alone. English and Spanish use different patterns for time, and six o’clock shows those differences clearly.

The good news is that once you understand a few simple rules, 6:00 becomes one of the easiest hours to say. You hear it in appointments, transport schedules, and small talk, so it pays to get it right and feel relaxed every time it appears.

This guide walks through the main ways to say 6:00, how to add parts of the day, how questions about the hour work, and what native speakers say in real conversations. By the end, you will be able to react to six o’clock in Spanish without stopping to think.

How Do You Say 6 O’Clock In Spanish? Core Answer

For a neutral, clear answer, you say:

Son las seis.

That sentence uses the verb ser in plural form, because six is more than one. The article las appears before seis because hora is feminine and usually stays in the background: Son las seis [horas]. In speech, nobody says horas, yet the structure lives under the surface.

To stress that the time is exact, you can add en punto:

Son las seis en punto.

Teachers and textbooks like this version because it sounds precise and easy to hear. When the context already shows that clock time matters, many speakers simply keep en punto in their tone and drop the words.

When you want to place an event at six, you normally use the preposition a:

La reunión empieza a las seis. Quedamos a las seis.

Here a las seis works like at six o’clock in English. The small change from son las seis to a las seis marks the difference between telling the time and giving a time for something.

Spanish Time Basics You Need For 6 O’Clock

Before six makes full sense, it helps to see how Spanish handles the hour in general. Reference works from the Real Academia Española explain that speakers usually ask the question in singular form, yet answer in plural: ¿Qué hora es? — Son las seis. Many learners feel calmer once they see that the same logic repeats every hour.

Using The Verb Ser With The Hour

Spanish always uses ser to tell the hour. One is special:

Es la una.
Son las dos.
Son las seis.

The change from es to son matches the number of hours. Six fits with son, so every version of 6:00 starts that way unless context leads to a shortened phrase like Las seis, por favor when you ask for a wake up call at a hotel.

Adding Parts Of The Day

Spanish can work with a twelve hour style and a twenty four hour style. In speech, the twelve hour style dominates and speakers add a phrase for the part of the day:

Son las seis de la mañana.
Son las seis de la tarde.
Son las seis de la noche.

Guides from the Real Academia Española and teaching pages from Instituto Cervantes point out that words like mañana or tarde follow the full phrase that gives the hour. In written schedules that rely on the twenty four hour model you may see forms such as las dieciocho horas instead.

Questions You Hear Around Six

In shops, stations, or on the street, people ask:

¿Qué hora es?
¿Tienes hora?
Perdone, ¿qué hora es ahora?

Standard references agree that ¿Qué hora es? works in formal settings, while alternatives appear in relaxed conversation. All of them receive answers with son las seis when the hands of the clock sit at the top.

Main Ways To Say 6 O’Clock In Spanish

Here is a quick summary of core expressions built around six. You can scan this chart while you listen to native audio or as you practice out loud.

Expression	When You Hear It	Example Sentence
Son las seis	Neutral time telling	Son las seis y el tren sale pronto.
Son las seis en punto	Exact hour, more formal or careful speech	Son las seis en punto, empieza la clase.
Son las seis de la mañana	Early hours, plain statement	Son las seis de la mañana y ya hay tráfico.
Son las seis de la tarde	Late afternoon or early evening	La tienda cierra a las seis de la tarde.
Son las seis de la noche	Evening in some regions	La película empieza a las seis de la noche.
A las seis	Time of an event	Nos vemos a las seis.
A las seis en punto	Exact starting time	La reunión es a las seis en punto.

Talking About Six In Real Conversations

Once you know the base pattern, real speech brings small adjustments. The core stays the same, but tone, short forms, and context add color.

Morning, Afternoon, Or Night At Six

Different countries draw the line between tarde and noche in slightly different spots. Some speakers call six in winter tarde when there is still light, and noche when it is dark. Others treat six as tarde by habit unless they describe a late activity.

This means you will hear:

Son las seis de la tarde.
Son las seis de la noche.

Both sound natural, with choice guided by light, region, and personal style. Language resources often remind learners that there is no strict global rule for the cut between tarde and noche, so you can copy the version you hear around you.

Telling The Time Versus Setting A Time

English uses the same phrase for both telling the time and setting a time: it is six o’clock, the show starts at six o’clock. Spanish marks the difference with word order and small prepositions.

To answer a question about the current time, use son las seis or son las seis en punto.

To place an activity at six, change the pattern:

La clase termina a las seis.
Quiero cenar a eso de las seis.
Suena la alarma a las seis y media.

Spanish style points from teaching sites like ProfedeELE and Lingolia point out a las before the hour in this kind of sentence. You can pair it with exact forms such as en punto or with softer phrases like a eso de when you want some flexibility.

Using Six In Schedules And The 24 Hour Clock

Transport networks, offices, and hospitals often choose the twenty four hour model. In this style, six in the morning is 6:00 and six in the evening becomes 18:00. Spanish grammar guides linked by the Real Academia Española recommend writing the hour either with words or with digits, yet not mixing the two.

So a printed schedule may say:

06:00 h — apertura
18:00 h — cierre

In speech, that same line usually turns into:

A las seis de la mañana abrimos.
Cerramos a las seis de la tarde.

You rarely hear dieciocho horas in friendly talk, though it appears in military, technical, or strongly formal contexts.

Table Of Common 6 O’Clock Mistakes And Fixes

Learners often carry English habits straight into Spanish. This chart lists errors that appear again and again with six and shows a natural alternative.

Type Of Mistake	Not Fully Correct	Better Spanish
Missing article	Son seis.	Son las seis.
Using estar	Está las seis.	Son las seis.
Wrong preposition	Llego en las seis.	Llego a las seis.
Mixing patterns	Es seis en punto.	Son las seis en punto.
Skipping ser	A las seis es tarde.	Es tarde a las seis.
Wrong number	Es las seis.	Son las seis.

Mini Practice With 6 O’Clock Phrases

Drills help the phrases feel automatic. Read each line in Spanish, then say your version out loud and listen for the rhythm.

Son las seis.
Son las seis en punto.
Son las seis de la mañana.
Son las seis de la tarde.
Quedamos a las seis.
El tren sale a las seis en punto.
Tengo reunión a las seis y cuarto.
Me levanto a las seis menos diez entre semana.

Tips To Sound Natural When Saying 6 O’Clock

A few habits push your Spanish closer to the pattern used in guidebooks and in streets across Spanish speaking countries. They may sound small, yet these habits slowly build steady confidence whenever the clock reaches six.

Keep son for all hours except one. Only switch to es la una when the clock shows one o’clock.

Remember the small words around six. You tell the hour with son las seis and set times with a las seis.

Choose a part of the day when context is not clear. If you want to avoid confusion, say de la mañana, de la tarde, or de la noche after the base phrase.

Use en punto for clear schedules. On tickets, in meetings, or in audio guides, en punto adds a sense of sharp timing without sounding stiff.

Listen to real audio. Short clips from teaching platforms and official learning portals let you hear how real speakers handle son las seis in questions, answers, and phone calls.

When you combine these habits, 6:00 stops feeling like a test. It turns into one more solid phrase in your toolbox that comes out smoothly whenever a clock, alarm, or schedule brings six into the conversation.