Wednesday 6 February 2013

At What Time Will You Leave The Office?

Introduction


This post deals with talking about the future in general, and more specifically with stating the time at which you will leave somewhere.





SCENARIO


Imagine you are talking to a relative, a friend or a work colleague. At the moment, you are in the office, but you will leave at some time in the future. Not knowing when you are going to leave, the other person says to you:"at what time will you leave the office?"

In Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and say:
¿A qué hora vas a salir del despacho?

Alternatively, he/ she could choose to be more formal and say:
¿A qué hora va a salir (usted) del despacho?


OUR TIP

The question is an invitation for you to state the time of your departure from the office. When saying when you will be doing something, you do not need to be concerned about the level of formality in the original question. Just make sure that you use the right time expression*.


Here are some examples of how you could reply:
  • Voy a salir a la una y media (I am going to leave at a half past one)
  • Saldré a la una y media (I will leave at a half past one)
  • Voy a salir a las cinco y diez (I am going to leave at ten past five)
  • Saldré a las cinco y diez (I will leave at ten past five)
  • Voy a salir a las siete en punto (I am going to leave at seven o'clock)
  • Saldré a las siete en punto (I will leave at seven o'clock)
  • Noa qué hora voy a salir (I don't know at what time I am going to leave)
  • Noa qué hora saldré (I don't know at what time I will live)


*Notes
Please note the two typical ways of expressing the future in Spanish:
  • Voy a salir... (I am going to leave.)
  • Saldré... (I will leave..)
Please note also the difference between the expressions of time used in these answers and typical expressions used in telling the time, such as:
  • Es la una y media (it is half past one)
  • Son las dos y veinte (it is twenty minutes past two)
  • No sé qué hora es (I don't know what time it is)


Now you should practise answering the question:

¿A qué hora vas a salir del despacho?

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