It’s 8 In Spanish | Everyday Time Phrases That Sound Natural

The phrase for 8:00 in Spanish is “son las ocho,” used when the clock shows eight on the hour.

Hearing “It’s eight” in Spanish for the first time can feel simple, yet small details matter if you want to sound natural. Time expressions appear in plans, classes, work meetings, and casual chats, so learning them well pays off fast.

This guide shows when to say “son las ocho,” how to adjust it for different minutes, and how to fit it into everyday conversations.

It’s 8 In Spanish Explained For Everyday Conversation

When the clock shows 8:00 on the dot, the natural sentence in Spanish is “son las ocho.” English uses a single pattern, “it’s,” for all hours, while Spanish changes the verb form and article depending on the number. With eight, the hour is plural, so both the verb and the article appear in plural form.

The structure looks like this:

• Son – third person plural of the verb ser.
• Las – feminine plural article used for hours from two onward.
• Ocho – the number eight.

So “son las ocho” can be read as “they are the eight,” but native speakers simply use it to say “it’s eight o’clock.” You can use this phrase for early morning, evening, or night; Spanish does not change the wording based only on a.m. or p.m.

When To Use Es La And When To Use Son Las

Only one hour breaks the pattern: one o’clock. Spanish treats one as singular, so you say “es la una.” From two onward, hours are plural; that is why you say “son las dos,” “son las tres,” “son las cuatro,” and so on until “son las doce.” Guides to telling time in Spanish, such as the one from Busuu, show this same switch from es to son in clear tables and examples. Guide to telling the time in Spanish

This small change has a big effect on how natural you sound. Saying “es las ocho” or “es las tres” jumps out to native speakers the way “they is” would stand out in English. Once you train your ear to the pattern, “son las ocho” feels almost automatic whenever you hear or see 8:00.

Adding Minutes Around Eight O’Clock

Spanish builds longer time phrases around “son las ocho” by adding minutes with the word “y” or by subtracting minutes with “menos.” A short list helps you see the pattern around eight:

• Son las ocho en punto – it is eight o’clock on the dot.
• Son las ocho y cinco – it is 8:05.
• Son las ocho y cuarto – it is 8:15.
• Son las ocho y media – it is 8:30.
• Son las nueve menos cuarto – it is 8:45 (a quarter to nine).

Many learning sites repeat that, from minute one to thirty, you add minutes with “y,” while from thirty-one to fifty-nine you subtract minutes from the next hour with “menos.” You can see this pattern clearly laid out on Spanish learning pages such as Lawless Spanish. Telling time in Spanish

Saying 8 O’Clock In Daily Spanish Situations

Knowing the sentence “son las ocho” is a strong start, yet you also need ways to talk about plans, schedules, and events at eight. Spanish uses the preposition “a” plus the article “las” to say that something happens at a certain hour.

When you want to say that something takes place at eight, you move from “son las ocho” to “a las ocho”:

• La película empieza a las ocho. – The movie starts at eight.
• Quedamos a las ocho en la estación. – Let’s meet at eight at the station.
• La clase termina a las ocho. – The class ends at eight.

You can see the same pattern on teaching pages such as Lingolia’s explanation of how to say the hour in Spanish, where examples like “La película empieza a las 8, así que quedamos a las ocho menos cuarto” appear in natural dialogs. La hora en español

Morning, Evening, And Night Around Eight

Unlike English, Spanish does not attach a short label like a.m. or p.m. to the hour itself. Instead, speakers add time-of-day phrases when needed. Eight belongs to several possible parts of the day, so context matters.

• Las ocho de la mañana – eight in the morning.
• Las ocho de la tarde – eight in the evening (often used in Spain).
• Las ocho de la noche – eight at night (common in Latin America).

In conversation, a friend may simply say “quedamos a las ocho” if both of you know they mean evening. When the part of the day is not clear, you add “de la mañana,” “de la tarde,” or “de la noche” so nobody turns up twelve hours too early or too late.

Time Patterns That Help You Remember Son Las Ocho

Patterns make time expressions easier to store in your memory. Once you link “son las ocho” to words for the other hours, you can build the full system with less effort. Many learners find that lining up the hours in a small reference table makes everything click.

Clock Time	Spanish Hour Phrase	Short Note
1:00	Es la una	Only hour that stays singular.
2:00	Son las dos	From here on, hours use plural.
3:00	Son las tres	Same pattern with “son las.”
4:00	Son las cuatro	Four in Spanish uses “cuatro.”
5:00	Son las cinco	Common in work schedules.
6:00	Son las seis	Useful for early meetings.
7:00	Son las siete	Often paired with “de la mañana.”
8:00	Son las ocho	Focus of this article’s examples.
9:00	Son las nueve	Movie and dinner times often fall here.
10:00	Son las diez	Late classes and shows.
11:00	Son las once	Near the end of the evening.
12:00	Son las doce	Can mean noon or midnight with context.

Notice how “son las ocho” fits neatly between seven and nine with the same rhythm. Saying the list out loud, from “es la una” through “son las doce,” trains your tongue and ear at the same time. Many online tables lay this out in a similar way to build that rhythm.

Using The Number Ocho Outside The Clock

Since “son las ocho” contains the number eight, it helps to grow comfortable with ocho in other time-related settings. The Royal Spanish Academy’s dictionary entry for ocho points out that it functions both as an adjective and as a noun, just like other cardinal numbers. Diccionario de la lengua española: ocho

Some common patterns built with ocho include:

• Tengo ocho años. – I am eight years old.
• El día ocho de marzo. – The eighth day of March (March eighth).
• Capítulo ocho. – Chapter eight.
• La línea ocho del metro. – Metro line eight.

In dates, Spanish usually keeps the cardinal form after the day word, so “el ocho de marzo” stays with ocho, while the dictionary also lists octavo as the related ordinal. Both forms appear in reading and listening materials, so it helps to know that they connect back to the same base number.

Common Mistakes Learners Make With Son Las Ocho

Time expressions in Spanish look simple at first glance, yet many learners repeat the same slips again and again. Knowing these common patterns helps you avoid them and makes your Spanish sound closer to what native speakers expect.

Frequent Errors And Better Options

The table below gathers mistakes that appear often when people try to say that it is eight in Spanish. You will also see short tips that explain why the corrected version works better.

Mistake	Correct Form	Tip
Es las ocho.	Son las ocho.	Use plural verb and article for hours above one.
Es la ocho.	Son las ocho.	Again, hours from two to twelve use “las.”
Son la ocho.	Son las ocho.	Verb is fine, article still needs plural form.
Son ocho horas.	Son las ocho.	This sounds like a duration, not the time on the clock.
A la ocho.	A las ocho.	Preposition “a” keeps the same article as the main hour phrase.
Las ocho y cuarenta.	Ocho y cuarenta / las nueve menos veinte.	Article can appear or drop; many speakers prefer “menos” forms.
Ocho p.m.	Las ocho de la noche.	Spanish rarely uses a.m./p.m. outside of timetables.

Practical Tricks To Fix These Errors

Short routines help new phrases stick. Here are a few ideas you can use to drill “son las ocho” along with the rest of the system:

• Say the full list of hours twice a day, from “es la una” up through “son las doce.”
• Write three short plan sentences each day using “a las ocho” in different contexts, such as school, work, and free time.
• Watch or listen to short Spanish clips and pause whenever you hear an hour mentioned, then repeat it aloud.
• Set a reminder on your phone at 8:00 with the label “son las ocho” so you see and hear the phrase in real time.

These small habits move time expressions from passive recognition to active use. When someone asks you the hour or suggests meeting at eight, the phrase “son las ocho” will already sit close to the front of your mind and roll off your tongue with far less effort.