Hey there, guys! Today, we’ll cover an especially important topic: how to tell the time in portuguese! Did you know Brazil uses a system for hours different from the 12-hour format? And that we have multiple ways to describe the same hour? Learn more about hours in Portuguese while having fun!
There are many ways to tell the time in Portuguese. But let’s begin with the basics: we always use the verb ser to describe an hour. Check out one example of this:
| Por favor, que horas são? | Please, what time is it? |
| São duas e quinze da tarde. (14:15) | It’s two fifteen in the afternoon. (2:15 pm) |
Brazilians love to be incredibly detailed when talking! So, it’s common to hear someone specifying the period of day even if that is already obvious from the context. Brazil follows most of the international guidelines, including time in 24h format and day/month/year. That is why people don’t use am/pm, but they have two ways to describe the hours:
| 00:00 | meia-noite | 12:00 AM |
| 01:00 | uma da manhã / uma hora | 01:00 AM |
| 02:00 | duas da manhã / duas horas | 02:00 AM |
| 03:00 | três da manhã / três horas | 03:00 AM |
| 04:00 | quatro da manhã / quatro horas | 04:00 AM |
| 05:00 | cinco da manhã / cinco horas | 05:00 AM |
| 06:00 | seis da manhã / seis horas | 06:00 AM |
| 07:00 | sete da manhã / sete horas | 07:00 AM |
| 08:00 | oito da manhã / oito horas | 08:00 AM |
| 09:00 | nove da manhã / nove horas | 09:00 AM |
| 10:00 | dez da manhã / dez horas | 10:00 AM |
| 11:00 | onze da manhã / onze horas | 11:00 AM |
| 12:00 | meio-dia | 12:00 PM |
| 13:00 | uma da tarde / treze horas | 01:00 PM |
| 14:00 | duas da tarde / quatorze horas / catorze horas | 02:00 PM |
| 15:00 | três da tarde / quinze horas | 03:00 PM |
| 16:00 | quatro da tarde / dezesseis horas | 04:00 PM |
| 17:00 | cinco da tarde / dezessete horas | 05:00 PM |
| 18:00 | seis da tarde / dezoito horas | 06:00 PM |
| 19:00 | sete da noite / dezenove horas | 07:00 PM |
| 20:00 | oito da noite / vinte horas | 08:00 PM |
| 21:00 | nove da noite / vinte e uma horas | 09:00 PM |
| 22:00 | dez da noite / vinte e duas horas | 10:00 PM |
| 23:00 | onze da noite / vinte e três horas | 11:00 PM |
Keep in mind: When Brazilians describe hours between one and eleven, they tend to add whether they mean in the morning or in the afternoon/night.
Against all the expectations, Brazilians have a special and unique way to refer to 12:00 and 00:00. Look at the examples below so you can understand it better!
| Com licença! Tem horas? | Excuse me! Do you have the time? |
| É meio-dia. | It’s midday. (12:00 pm) |
| A que horas você chegou em casa ontem? | What time did you get home yesterday? |
| Mais ou menos meia-noite. | About midnight. (0:00 am) |
When people want to say the specific time, they use the expression em ponto (o’clock) or they complete with the word horas.
| A que horas começam as aulas na Rio & Learn? | What time the classes start at Rio & Learn? |
| As aulas começam às nove horas em ponto. | The classes start at nine o´clock. |
Another way of saying the time in Portuguese is when you want to be more specific than just describing the whole hour. When it is ‘half past’ a certain hour, we say em meia in Portuguese. If you want to read more about this, check out our Dica about the differents uses for the word meia.
| Você sabe a que horas vai começar o show? | Do you know when the concert starts? |
| Vai começar às dez e meia. (22:30) | It starts at half past ten. (10:30 pm). |
We can’t say dez e meia horas, but you can say dez e meia da manhã.
Minha aula online de Português começa às oito da manhã.
My online Portuguese class starts at 8 am.
Paula chegou em casa às quatro da tarde no sábado.
Paula arrived at home at 4 pm on Saturday.
Seu ônibus vai partir às 23 horas.
Your bus will leave at 11 pm.
A RioLIVE! de hoje vai começar às quinze para as três. (14:45)
The RioLIVE! is going to be at a quarter to threre. (2:45 pm)
O avião vai partir do Rio de Janeiro às dez para a meia-noite. (23:50)
The plane leaves Rio de Janeiro at ten to midnight. (11:50 pm)
Can you unscramble the sentences below and form the correct sentences about hours in Portuguese?
Did you know that our Dicas are always out at nine o’clock in the morning? If you have more doubts, send a tweet to our Twitter account and it will be a pleasure answering them!
See you soon!
Kisses from Rio & Learn!
Click in the links below to see more related Dicas
Numbers from 1 to 10 in Portuguese
Numbers from 11 to 20 in Portuguese
Dates in Portuguese
Portuguese Present Tense of Ser
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