# do you have the time? do you have time?



## jwl3

La frase: El viejo dijo, “Sabe qué hora es?” 


Mi profesora me dice que esta oración no es correcta, pero no puedo resolverla. 
No tengo el español como mi primera lengua, para que lo sepas. ¡Muchas gracias por su ayuda!


----------



## Pinairun

jwl3 said:


> La frase: El viejo dijo, “Sabe qué hora es?”
> 
> 
> Mi profes*ora* me dice que esta oración no es correcta, pero no puedo resolverla.
> No tengo el español como mi primera lengua, para que lo sepas. ¡Muchas gracias por su ayuda!



Creo que el fallo está en la puntuación:

El viejo dijo*:* "*¿*Sabe qué hora es?"*.*


----------



## jwl3

Gracias, pero me dijo que el fallo eran del tiempo de los verbos


----------



## chamyto

The sentence is perfect, except for the question mark.We should know context. Another way to express more or less the same would be: ¿Qué hora tiene/tienes?


----------



## jwl3

Muchas gracias. no pude encontrar un error tampoco. pienso que mi profesora es loca, jaja


----------



## Pinairun

El viejo dijo: ¿Sabe qué hora es? = Estilo directo.

El viejo dijo si sabía qué hora era = Estilo indirecto.


----------



## jwl3

¿Qué te parece?:  Le preguntó si sabía qué hora era.


----------



## Peterdg

jwl3 said:


> ¿Qué te parece?: Le preguntó si sabía qué hora era.


----------



## Mate

¿Cuál sería la oración en inglés que hay que poner en español? (si no es mucho pedir).


----------



## jwl3

no es problema. 

I'm telling a story in the past, and I wanted to say, "The old man asked, "do you have the time?""
So the action is in the past, but the old man didn't ask the question in  the past tense obviously, because that wouldn't make sense.


----------



## lapot

(No counting the question mark) your sentence is perfectly fine.


----------



## Mate

Yep, I agree. “¿Sabe qué hora es?” is perfectly fine, as well as  "Le preguntó si sabía qué hora era."

Edit: Please note that I had to change the title of this thread, jwl3. Whenever you have the time, have a look here. Thanks


----------



## jwl3

Oh, excuse me Mate, I was unfamiliar with the rules of titling. no harm intended! thank you for showing me that link, i read it. 
thanks everybody!


----------



## Mexico RV'er

jwl3 said:


> Oh, excuse me Mate, I was unfamiliar with the rules of titling. No harm intended! Thank you for showing me that link. I read it.
> Thanks everybody!



As a former teacher, I would recommend you discuss the sentence with your teacher for clarification. You need to know what her concern is with the sentence. All we can go is guess. If the explanation does not satisfy you, bring the explanation to the forum for further discussion.


----------



## jwl3

Yes, I was planning on discussing it with her. I'm sorry for not capitalizing correctly, I know how to (native speaker) but I wasn't trying to type formally. I suppose I should, since this is a language-based forum, after all. Thanks!


----------



## Mexico RV'er

jwl3 said:


> Yes, I was planning on discussing it with her. I'm sorry for not capitalizing correctly, I know how to (native speaker) but I wasn't trying to type formally. I suppose I should, since this is a language-based forum, after all. Thanks!



Spelling and punctuating correctly is one of the rules of the forum since we have non-native students of English trying to learn from our examples and _vice versa_. You will see instances where it is not enforced uniformly, but I would encourage you to try to set a good example. 

I will be watching for your post about your teacher's explanation.


----------



## jwl3

Yes, of course. I apologize. I will definitely set a better example from now on. I'm still new to the site, but I'm starting to understand how it all works. 
I'll be sure to post to let you all know what my teacher says. 
Thanks again everyone!


----------



## Wisconsinite

Could be that the teacher wanted a direct translation: 
El viejo preguntó, "¿tiene Ud. la hora?"
or
El viejo preguntó, "¿tienes la hora?"


----------



## Blixa

Wisconsinite said:


> Could be that the teacher wanted a direct translation:
> El viejo preguntó, "¿tiene Ud. la hora?"
> or
> El viejo preguntó, "¿tienes la hora?"



That doesn't  sound familiar to me, but I have heard that expression in South America.

But I agree with all the replies above, you are asking in an direct way.


----------



## Wisconsinite

You mean, you have never heard someone ask "tienes la hora"? I have. Although that could be Spanish influenced by English.

I found the phrase on this page: http://www.frenchspanishonline.com/inglesprincipiantes/escuela/hora/hora.html
And in WR, it seems the topic has come up several times, with the solution of "¿tiene hora?" (without the article):
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1330781
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=616883

I have never heard anyone say "¿tiene hora?"


----------



## lapot

In Spanish of Spain:
¿Tienes hora? --> It sounds natural.
¿Tienes la hora? --> It doesn't sound natural, but maybe it does in Spanish of Latin America. I don't know.


----------



## Blixa

By reading this, a question has come up, is it grammatically correct in English to ask "Do you have time?"  instead of "What time is it?"?, maybe the first one is pretty informal and you didn't  use it in an essay or so, that's why I'm asking.


----------



## Wisconsinite

Blixa said:


> By reading this, a question has come up, is it grammatically correct in English to ask "Do you have time?" instead of "What time is it?"?, maybe the first one is pretty informal and you didn't  use it in an essay or so, that's why I'm asking.



Do you have *the* time?   <--- Yes, you can say this in English. 
*Do you have the time? *and *What time is it?* are equal in terms of formality. 

If anything, "Do you have the time?" is a little more polite, because it is a more gentle way of requesting the time. "What time is it?" is very direct, almost like a demand. But the formality is the same.


----------



## Peterdg

lapot said:


> In Spanish of Spain:
> ¿Tienes hora? --> It sounds natural. *I'd interpret this as "Do you have an appointment?"*
> ¿Tienes la hora? --> It doesn't sound natural, but maybe it does in Spanish of Latin America. I don't know.





Blixa said:


> By reading this, a question has come up, is it grammatically correct in English to ask "Do you have time?" instead of "What time is it?"?, maybe the first one is pretty informal and you didn't use it in an essay or so, that's why I'm asking.


Yes, it is correct but it means something else: "¿Tienes tiempo? en el sentido de "¿Estás libre/no ocupado?"

EDIT: Me crucé con Wisconsinite: Yo estoy hablando de "Do you have time" (sin el "the")


----------



## Wisconsinite

Oops, we may have broken forum rules. Technically, if you have a new question and it's about grammar, you should open up a new thread in the grammar forum. You can always link back to the original thread that inspired your question.


----------



## Blixa

Wisconsinite said:


> Oops, we may have broken forum rules. Technically, if you have a new question and it's about grammar, you should open up a new thread in the grammar forum. You can always link back to the original thread that inspired your question.



 Do I just open another question and add the link to this previous question? Sorry  I asked it because this thread is in the Grammar section.


----------



## Wisconsinite

Blixa said:


> Do I just open another question and add the link to this previous question? Sorry  I asked it because this thread is in the Grammar section.



I don't know. Maybe it's okay, since it's already a grammar question. It just seemed like a new topic to me, but since I am not a moderator, maybe I should keep my mouth shut anyway.  

I think we should just keep talking about it here, since we already are, and if a moderator stumbles by, they will correct the error by moving it to a new thread. Sorry for creating confusion.

Peterdg, I totally agree with you about "Do you have time?" Without "the" it means "¿tienes tiempo?"  

Sorry for my missteps!


----------



## Mate

It is indeed another topic, but in order not to split this thread in two I'll change the title again.


----------



## lapot

> In Spanish of Spain:
> ¿Tienes hora? --> It sounds natural. *I'd interpret this as "Do you have an appointment?"*
> ¿Tienes la hora? --> It doesn't sound natural, but maybe it does in Spanish of Latin America. I don't know.



According to Peterdg's explanation,yes. ¿Tienes hora? can suggests an appointment in the right context. Here, two different examples:

(Walking down the street and you want to know what time it is.) -¿Tienes hora? -Sí. Son las 12:00.
(At a medical center when you and other people have an appointment with the doctor) - ¿Tienes hora (para consulta)? - Sí, a las 12.00.


----------

