Palabra Lexi · common words in Spanish

How to say "time" in Spanish

"Time" in Spanish is tiempo, pronounced TYEHM-poh (stress on the syllable in capitals). In short: time in general and how much of it you have (No tengo tiempo, "I have no time"); it also means "weather". It is a masculine noun (el tiempo, plural los tiempos). Also: vez, an occurrence, counting how many times (tres veces, "three times"; otra vez, "again").

Pronunciation is spelled out in English, one syllable at a time, with the stressed syllable in capitals. The speaker button uses your browser's built-in Spanish voice. Gender and plural: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

How to pronounce tiempo

Tiempo is pronounced TYEHM-poh, in IPA /ˈtjempo/. Tiempo has two syllables, TYEHM-poh, with the stress on the first. There is no written accent because the word follows the basic rule: words ending in a vowel, -n or -s are stressed on the second-to-last syllable.

Listen: normal and slow speed, in your browser's Spanish voice. IPA: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Is tiempo masculine or feminine?

Tiempo is masculine, so it takes el (the) and un (a): el tiempo. The plural is los tiempos. That fits the usual pattern: most nouns ending in -o are masculine.

Example sentence

No tengo tiempo
I have no time

How to remember tiempo

tiempo [TYEHM-poh] sounds like the English “tempo”. Picture this:

Time keeps its own tempo: the metronome on the town hall swings clouds left and right.

A sound-alike plus a vivid scene is the keyword method, a well-studied way to learn vocabulary. How it works.

Practice tiempo

Two quick games, right here: no sign-up, nothing is sent anywhere.

Other ways to say "time" in Spanish

tiempo or hora: which one?

Not to be confused with a similar word. In short:

• tiempo (time): time in general and how much of it you have (No tengo tiempo, "I have no time"); it also means "weather".
• hora (hour): clock time and hours (¿Qué hora es?, "What time is it?").

Word web: tiempo

Words that live next to tiempo in the Palabra word web, each with its own English sound-alike and scene. Learning them together makes each one easier to recall.