How to Tell Time in Brazilian Portuguese: Hours, Minutes, and Plans

Ask what time it is and give the hour

The common question is Que horas são? (What time is it?). Answers use são for most clock times: São duas horas (It’s two o’clock) and São três e meia (It’s half past three). For one o’clock, use É uma hora.

Meio-dia means noon, and meia-noite means midnight. For a time after the hour, e means ‘and’; for minutes before the next hour, para or faltam may be used, although a 24-hour digital time is also easy to read aloud.

Brazilian Portuguese examples with English translations: Ask what time it is and give the hour
Brazilian Portuguese	English meaning
Que horas são? São quatro e vinte.	What time is it? It’s four twenty.
A reunião começa à uma da tarde.	The meeting starts at one in the afternoon.
O voo sai à meia-noite.	The flight leaves at midnight.

Use the right phrase when making a plan

Use às before a specific hour: às nove (at nine). To describe an approximate time, say por volta das nove (around nine). Asking Que horas fica melhor para você? (What time works best for you?) gives the other person room to suggest a time.

After someone answers, repeat the time or confirm it with então: Então, às nove, na entrada? (So, at nine, by the entrance?). Brazil uses more than one time zone, so for an online meeting with someone elsewhere, name the city or time zone when there could be confusion.

Brazilian Portuguese examples with English translations: Use the right phrase when making a plan
Brazilian Portuguese	English meaning
Você pode chegar às sete e meia?	Can you arrive at seven thirty?
A gente se encontra por volta das oito.	We’ll meet around eight.
Só para confirmar: no horário de Brasília, certo?	Just to confirm: Brasília time, right?

Remember: Ask Que horas são? for the current time, use à/às for a planned hour, and add por volta de when the time is approximate. Repeat the hour to confirm important plans.

Check your understanding

Choose the English meaning of each Portuguese example. Answer before looking back at the tables. These questions check the written examples in this guide; they are not a listening or proficiency test.

Que horas são? São quatro e vinte.

Context: Ask what time it is and give the hour

Do the captions also describe important sounds?Does this screening have audio description?What time is it? It’s four twenty.How do I find showtimes with this feature?

A reunião começa à uma da tarde.

Context: Ask what time it is and give the hour

Mix the flour with the milk.Cut the tomatoes into small pieces.Add the salt little by little.The meeting starts at one in the afternoon.

O voo sai à meia-noite.

Context: Ask what time it is and give the hour

The flight leaves at midnight.Can I mix blue with white?This color turned out different from what I wanted.First, I painted the background; then, I painted the trees.

Você pode chegar às sete e meia?

Context: Use the right phrase when making a plan

I'll send the new proposal by Tuesday.Can you arrive at seven thirty?The client's team will confirm the copy by the 18th.My salary expectation is between eight and ten thousand reais gross, depending on the role's scope.

Recall the Portuguese, then say it

Read the English prompt and say a Portuguese version before opening the answer. The answer shows the example from the lesson; other natural translations may also work. Compare the meaning and the situation rather than counting a different word as automatically wrong.

What time is it? It’s four twenty.
Show a Portuguese answer
Que horas são? São quatro e vinte.
The meeting starts at one in the afternoon.
Show a Portuguese answer
A reunião começa à uma da tarde.
The flight leaves at midnight.
Show a Portuguese answer
O voo sai à meia-noite.
Can you arrive at seven thirty?
Show a Portuguese answer
Você pode chegar às sete e meia?
We’ll meet around eight.
Show a Portuguese answer
A gente se encontra por volta das oito.
Just to confirm: Brasília time, right?
Show a Portuguese answer
Só para confirmar: no horário de Brasília, certo?

Make the phrase useful to you

Choose one example you could actually use. Say it once from memory, then change one detail that fits your life, such as the person, place, time, or object. Check whether your change also needs a different verb form, article, or adjective ending. If it does, compare it with the pattern in the explanation.

Ask Que horas são? for the current time, use à/às for a planned hour, and add por volta de when the time is approximate. Repeat the hour to confirm important plans.

Return to two prompts tomorrow without opening the answers first. If a phrase still feels difficult, shorten it to a useful chunk and build the complete sentence again.

Sources and your next lesson

This I Speak Portuguese practice guide builds on our How to Tell Time in Brazilian Portuguese: Hours, Minutes, and Plans lesson on Real Life Portuguese, with written recall tasks and additional speaking practice. The explanations and examples are teaching material; the practice questions are exercises, not a transcript of a recording.

To add Brazilian audio to your routine, choose a lesson in the Real Life Portuguese app. The app offers its own lessons and practice; this page does not imply that every example here has an app recording.

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