Time in Portuguese: Hoje, Ontem, Amanhã and Every Word the Clock Needs

Why learn time words before anything else?

Nearly every plan you'll make in Portuguese hangs on a time word. Meet me tomorrow. I'll call you tonight. Class starts at eight. Master this one set of Portuguese time vocabulary and all of those sentences unlock at once.

This lesson teaches Brazilian Portuguese and flags the spots where Portugal genuinely differs. Every entry gets a plain-English pronunciation hint. Two sound reminders before the tables: de usually sounds like "jee" in Brazil, and the til (~) on ã marks a nasal vowel, which is why amanhã ends in a hummed "NYAN".

What are the essential time words in Portuguese?

The essential time words in Portuguese are hoje (today), ontem (yesterday), and amanhã (tomorrow), backed up by agora (now), sempre (always), and nunca (never). Portuguese even has single words English lacks: anteontem is "the day before yesterday" and depois de amanhã is "the day after tomorrow".

A few of these repay a closer look. Já means "already" (já comi, I already ate) and also "right away" (já vou, I'm coming right now). Ainda is its mirror: "still" or "yet", as in ainda não (not yet). And tarde pulls double duty as "late" and "afternoon"; context tells you which you're hearing.

If you worked through our 100 essential Portuguese words, you've already met hoje, ontem, amanhã, and agora. Today they bring the whole family.

What are the parts of the day in Portuguese?

Brazilians split the day into four parts: manhã (morning), tarde (afternoon), noite (evening and night), and madrugada, the stretch between midnight and sunrise that English has no single word for.

Madrugada deserves a moment. Wiktionary defines it as the period between midnight and sunrise. A 2 a.m. message arrives de madrugada, and the word even has a casual clip, madruga.

To say when something happens in general, use de manhã, à tarde, and à noite: eu estudo de manhã (I study in the morning). Hold onto those three; they change form next to clock times, a switch we'll untangle in the mistakes section.

The greeting trio from hello in Portuguese maps straight onto these parts: bom dia, boa tarde, boa noite. Since noite covers evening and night, boa noite does the job of "good evening" and "good night" at once.

How do you say the time in Portuguese?

To say the time in Portuguese, use é with one o'clock and são with everything else: é uma hora (it's one o'clock), são duas horas (it's two o'clock). Noon and midnight also take é: é meio-dia, é meia-noite. For half past, add e meia; for a quarter past, Brazilians say e quinze.

When someone asks you Que horas são? (what time is it?), the question itself carries enough polite variants and replies to earn its own lesson: what time is it in Portuguese. Here we focus on saying the times themselves.

Minutes work by plain addition and subtraction. Past the hour, join them with e (and). Before the hour, count backwards with para as: são quinze para as cinco is 4:45. In fast Brazilian speech, para as squeezes into pras, so you'll hear quinze pras cinco.

Notice there's no "quarter" here. Brazil handles 2:15 and 2:45 with e quinze and quinze para; Portugal keeps the quarter, saying duas e um quarto and um quarto para as três. Both countries write schedules with the 24-hour clock (14h30) but mostly speak with the 12-hour one, adding da manhã or da tarde whenever it's unclear. Telling time in Portuguese is really those few patterns plus the numbers you already know.

Which duration and frequency words do you need?

To measure time and talk about routines, you need nine workhorse words, from segundo (second) up to ano (year), plus two patterns: todos os (every) and uma vez por (once a).

Here's the twist hiding in this table: Portuguese uses three words where English says "time".

• tempo ("TEN-poo") is time as a quantity: não tenho tempo, I don't have time. It also means weather, which surprises everyone once.
• hora is clock time: a que horas? means "at what time?"
• vez ("vayss") is a countable instance: uma vez (once), duas vezes (twice).

Now snap the frequency pieces together like building blocks: todos os dias (every day), duas vezes por semana (twice a week), uma vez por mês (once a month). Say one about your own routine right now: eu estudo português todos os dias.

What are the most common mistakes with time in Portuguese?

The most common mistakes with time in Portuguese are pairing são with one o'clock, translating "quarter" word for word, and mixing up de manhã with da manhã. Each has a quick fix.

Mistake 1: são uma hora. The verb agrees with the number of hours. One hour is singular, so it takes é: é uma hora. Two and up take são: são duas horas. Meio-dia and meia-noite each count as one thing, so they take é as well.

Mistake 2: hunting for the word "quarter". In Brazil, 2:15 is duas e quinze and 2:45 is quinze para as três. Save um quarto for a trip to Portugal.

Mistake 3: da manhã without a clock time. Use de manhã for "in the morning" in general: corro de manhã, I run in the morning. Attach da manhã only to an actual time: às oito da manhã, at 8 a.m. The same logic separates à tarde from da tarde and à noite from da noite.

Mistake 4: panicking when meia isn't "half". On the clock, e meia always means half past: duas e meia is 2:30. But when Brazilians read digits aloud, meia also stands for the number six, short for meia dúzia (half a dozen), because seis rhymes with três. A phone number full of "meia" is normal.

Mistake 5: calling 3 a.m. the morning. Deep-night times take da madrugada: às três da madrugada. You'll also hear às três da manhã, and both are understood, but madrugada is the precise word for the small hours.

How do Brazilians really schedule things?

Loosely, and with charm. Informal Brazilian plans lean on rounded times and softeners rather than exact minutes. The champion is e pouco ("ee POH-koo"), literally "and a little": meio-dia e pouco means "a bit after noon", a use recorded in Priberam's dictionary.

A few patterns you'll hear when making plans:

• meio-dia e pouco: a little after noon
• quase uma hora ("KWAH-zee"): almost one o'clock
• em ponto: sharp, for when precision actually matters (às duas em ponto)
• depois do almoço ("deh-POYSS doo ow-MOH-soo"): after lunch, a genuine scheduling unit in Brazil

Written invitations and work meetings switch to the 24-hour clock: a reunião é às 14h. Out loud, that same meeting becomes às duas da tarde. And since lunch will come up, pair these words with our food in Portuguese vocabulary and book almoço ao meio-dia like a local.

You now own the clock: today, tomorrow, the four parts of the day, and every hour in between. That's the whole toolkit for time in Portuguese; the next step is asking a stranger for the time, and the sister lesson below covers exactly that. For everything else, the Portuguese hub is home base. Tonight, before bed, say the current time out loud. São dez e meia? You're doing it.