el tren llegó antes de hora

• echar horas — to put the hours in

• media hora — half an hour

la media hora del bocadillo — half-hour break at work, ≈ tea break

• por horas — by the hour

trabajar por horas — to work on an hourly basis o by the hour

hora puente — Arg, Uru hour off

horas de consulta — opening hours ( of surgery)

horas de mayor audiencia — (TV) prime time sing

horas de vuelo — (Aer) flying time sing; (fig) (=experiencia) experience sing; (fig) (=antigüedad) seniority sing

horas extra, horas extraordinarias — overtime sing

horas libres — free time sing, spare time sing

horas muertas — dead period sing

• llegar a la hora — to arrive on time

• a altas horas (de la madrugada) — in the small hours

• a una hora avanzada — at a late hour

• dar la hora — [reloj] to strike (the hour)

• poner el reloj en hora — to set one's watch

• no comer entre horas — not to eat between meals

• a estas horas, a estas horas ya deben de estar en París — they must be in Paris by now

• buena hora, es buena hora para empezar — it's a good time to start

• es hora de hacer algo — it is time to do sth

• le ha llegado la hora — her time has come

• mala hora, es mala hora — it's a bad time

• en la hora de su muerte — at the moment of his death

• a primera hora — first thing in the morning

• a última hora — at the last moment, at the last minute

dejar las cosas hasta última hora — to leave things until the last moment o minute

última hora — [noticias] stop press

• la hora de la verdad — the moment of truth

• ¡ya era hora! — and about time too!

ya es o va siendo hora de que te vayas — it is high time (that) you went, it is about time (that) you went

hora de comer — [gen] mealtime; [a mediodía] lunchtime

hora de recreo — playtime, recess (EEUU)

hora de salida — [de tren, avión, bus] time of departure; [de carrera] starting time; [de escuela, trabajo] finishing time

hora insular canaria — local time in the Canary Islands

hora judicial — time when the courts start hearing cases

hora peninsular — local time in mainland Spain

hora pico — Méx rush hour

hora punta — [del tráfico] rush hour

horas punta — [de electricidad, teléfono] peak hours

horas de clase — (=horas lectivas) teaching hours; (=horas de colegio) school hours

doy ocho horas de clase — [profesor] I teach for eight hours

media hora — half an hour, a half hour (AmE)

8.000 pesetas la hora or por hora — 8,000 pesetas an hour

el avión llegó antes de (su) hora — the plane arrived ahead of schedule o arrived early

la decisión se conocerá a las 20 horas — (period) they will give their verdict at 8pm

el ataque se inició a las 20 horas — (frml) the attack commenced at 20.00 hours (léase: twenty hundred hours) (frml)

desde las cero horas — (period) from midnight

no dar ni la hora — (fam)

ésa no da ni la hora! — I'll/you'll/he'll get nothing out of her, she's as mean as they come (colloq)

desde que es jefa, no nos da ni la hora — now that she's been made boss, she won't even give us the time of day

es hora de irse a la cama — it's bedtime o time for bed

a altas horas de la madrugada — in the early o small hours of the morning

una noticia de última hora — a late o last-minute news item

a buena hora or a buenas horas: ¿y me lo dices ahora? a buenas horas! now you tell me!, it's a bit late to tell me now!; a buenas horas llegas this is a fine time to arrive!; a la hora de: a la hora traducirlo when it comes to translating it; a la hora de la verdad when it comes down to it; en buena hora: en buena hora compramos esta casa we bought this house at just the right time; en mala hora: en mala hora se nos ocurrió invitarla it was a really bad move inviting her; entre horas between meals; hacer hora (Chi) to kill time; llegarle a alguien su (última) hora: le llegó su (última) hora his time had come; no ver la hora de: no veo la hora de que lleguen — I'm really looking forward to them coming, I can't wait for them to come

media hora — half an hour, a half hour (AmE)

8.000 pesetas la hora or por hora — 8,000 pesetas an hour

el avión llegó antes de (su) hora — the plane arrived ahead of schedule o arrived early

la decisión se conocerá a las 20 horas — (period) they will give their verdict at 8pm

el ataque se inició a las 20 horas — (frml) the attack commenced at 20.00 hours (léase: twenty hundred hours) (frml)

desde las cero horas — (period) from midnight

no dar ni la hora — (fam)

ésa no da ni la hora! — I'll/you'll/he'll get nothing out of her, she's as mean as they come (colloq)

desde que es jefa, no nos da ni la hora — now that she's been made boss, she won't even give us the time of day

es hora de irse a la cama — it's bedtime o time for bed

a altas horas de la madrugada — in the early o small hours of the morning

una noticia de última hora — a late o last-minute news item

a buena hora or a buenas horas: ¿y me lo dices ahora? a buenas horas! now you tell me!, it's a bit late to tell me now!; a buenas horas llegas this is a fine time to arrive!; a la hora de: a la hora traducirlo when it comes to translating it; a la hora de la verdad when it comes down to it; en buena hora: en buena hora compramos esta casa we bought this house at just the right time; en mala hora: en mala hora se nos ocurrió invitarla it was a really bad move inviting her; entre horas between meals; hacer hora (Chi) to kill time; llegarle a alguien su (última) hora: le llegó su (última) hora his time had come; no ver la hora de: no veo la hora de que lleguen — I'm really looking forward to them coming, I can't wait for them to come

Ex: Most host are not available twenty-four hours a day, seven days of the week.

ocurrió unos momentos antes — it happened a few moments earlier o before

el edificio que habían comenzado dos años antes — the building that had been started two years before o previously

no te vayas sin antes consultarle — don't go without o before consulting her first, don't go without consulting her beforehand, don't go until you've consulted her

lo vio antes que yo — he saw it first o before I did o before me

• antes de algo — before sth

la cena estará lista para antes de las nueve — dinner will be ready by o before nine

una semana antes de la firma del contrato — a week before o prior to más frm signing the contract

• el año 27 antes de Cristo — 27 BC, 27 before Christ

• antes de hacer algo — before doing sth

antes de salir del coche, asegúrese de que están las ventanillas cerradas — before you get o before getting out of the car, make sure that the windows are closed

• mucho antes de algo — long before sth

mucho antes de conocerte — a long time before I met you o meeting you, long before I met you o meeting you más frm

• antes de o que nada — [en el tiempo] first of all; [indicando preferencia] above all

• poco antes de algo — just o shortly before sth

• antes de que — + subjun before

antes no pasaban estas cosas — these things didn't use to happen before o in the past

• de antes, nuestra casa de antes — our old house, our previous house

ya no soy el mismo de antes — I'm not the same person I was o I used to be

ya no se hacen películas como las de antes — they don't make films like they used to o like they did in the old days

no te he podido llamar antes — I couldn't call you sooner o earlier

• cuanto antes — as soon as possible

• lo antes posible — as soon as possible

cada vez se casan los hijos antes — kids get married at a younger o an earlier age these days

• antes de algo — before sth

no cederemos: antes gastamos todo nuestro dinero — we shall never give up: we would rather o sooner spend all our money

• antes bien, antes al contrario — but rather

• antes no — Chile, Méx just as well, luckily

vi lo furiosa que estaba, antes no te pegó — I saw how angry she was, just as well o luckily she didn't hit you

• antes que hacer algo — rather than doing sth

me lo deberías haber dicho antes — you should have told me before o earlier

llámame antes de salir — call me before leaving o you leave

antes me muero! — I'd rather o sooner die!

me lo deberías haber dicho antes — you should have told me before o earlier

llámame antes de salir — call me before leaving o you leave

antes me muero! — I'd rather o sooner die!

Ex: It will be a long time before all documents are available in machine-readable form.

Ex: These will be established in keeping with the principles established earlier.

• llegar [a], cuando llegamos a Bilbao estaba lloviendo — when we got to {o} arrived in Bilbao it was raining

• llegarle [a alguien], ¿te ha llegado ya el paquete? — have you got the parcel yet?

•[estar] al llegar, Carlos debe de estar al llegar — Carlos should be arriving any minute now

•[hacer] llegar algo a algn, hacer llegar una carta a algn — to send sb a letter

llegarle LAm —

• llegar [a] {o} [hasta] — to come up to

• me llega al [corazón] ver tanto sufrimiento — seeing so much suffering touches me to the heart

la audiencia de este programa ha llegado a cinco millones — (Radio) as many as five million people have listened to this programme; (TV) the viewing figures for this programme have been as high as five million

• si lo llego a [saber] — if I had known

• llegar a [ser] famoso/el jefe — to become famous/the boss

• llegar a [ver], no llegó a ver la película terminada — he never saw the film finished

• puede llegar a [alcanzar] los 300km/h — it can reach speeds of up to 300km/h

• ¿llegó a [creer] que sería campeón del mundo? — did you ever believe you'd be world champion?

• llegó al [punto] de robarle — he even went so far as to rob her

•[hacer] llegar el sueldo a fin de mes — to make ends meet

tienen que estar por or al llegar — they'll be arriving any minute now

llegar a — a país/ciudad to arrive in; a edificio to arrive at

llegar a casa — to arrive o get home

llegar a or hasta: este tren no llega hasta or a Lima this train doesn't go as far as o all the way to Lima; sólo llega al tercer piso — it only goes (up) to the third floor

llegar a algo — a acuerdo to reach something

llegué a la conclusión de que... — I reached o came to the conclusion that...

llegará lejos — she'll go far o a long way

su estilo no llega a la gente — people can't relate to o understand his style

un lenguaje que llega a la juventud — language that gets through to o means something to young people

se llegó hasta aquí para dármelo — she came all the way here to give it to me (colloq)