How to Tell the Time in French.
Knowing how to tell the time in French is very important. it is one of the fundamentals of learning French.
Useful vocabulary for telling time in French.
L'heure Time
et quart and a quarter
et demie and a half
et demi and the half(used for midi and minuit )
midi noon
minuit. Midnight
du matin in the morning
du soir in the afternoon
du soir in the evening
Rules for telling time in French
In English, we say it is six o'clock but we can also say it is six, in French, we say 'il est six heures ' but cannot say 'il est six'. The word 'heure or heures' must be added.
To abbreviate time in French use the letter h(for heure) between the hour and the minutes instead of a colon like in English, exm 10h20 (10:20)
Where English uses am and pm to different between the time in day, French uses du matin (am) , de l'après-midi (pm-from noon till 6pm) and du soir( -from 6pm till midnight)
The word heure is feminine, so to say it is one o'clock, say il est une heure. Note that it is singular with one and plural with all other numbers. Example une heure, deux heures, trois heures etc.
Telling the time in French.
To successfully tell the timeyou need to already know French numbers.
To ask about the time use:
Quelle heure est-il ?
To reply, use:
Il est --------heure(s)
How to tell time in French using the 12-hour clock.
Il est une heure - it is one o'clock.
Il est deux heures - it is two o'clock
Il est trois heures - it is three o'clock
How to say a minute or minutes past the hour
Il est une heure cinq - it is five past one.
Il est deux heures cinq - it is five past two
How to say minutes to the hour
Il est cinq heures moins dix- it is ten to five.
Il est huit heures moins cinq - it is five to eight.
Sometimes you may need to clarify if you mean a.m or p.m
Il est huit heures du matin - it is 8p.m
Il est trois heures de l'après-midi - it is 3p.m
Il est sept heures du soir - it is 7pm
Il est minuit - it is midnight
Il est midi - it is noon
How to say quarter past the hour
Il est une heure et quart - it is quarter past one.
Il est deux heures et quart - it is quarter past two
How to say quarter to the hour
Il est trois heures mois le quart - it is quarter to three.
Il est cinq heures mois le quart - it is quarter to five
How to say half past the hour
Il est une heure et demie - it is half past one
Il est deux heures et demie - it is half past two.
For half past midnight or noon, use et demi instead of et demie
Il est minuit et demi - it is half past midnight
Il est midi et demi it is half past twelve.
How to tell the time in French using the 24 -hour clock.
When using the 24-hour clock, say or write the numbers in full: a quart becomes quinze, et demie becomes trente and mois le quart becomes quarante-cinq.
Il est quinze heures trente - it's 3: 30.
Il est vingt heures quarante-cinq : it's 20:45
Il est cinq heures dix - it is 5:10
