How to tell the time in French
Vocalyra teaching team · Last updated:
French uses one structure for every time, il est plus a number plus heures. The tricky parts are quarters, halves, minutes before the hour, and the 24-hour clock you will see on every timetable.
Asking and answering
To ask the time, say Quelle heure est-il ? or, more casually, Il est quelle heure ? The answer always starts with il est. Heure is feminine and takes an s from two onwards: il est une heure, il est deux heures. Noon is midi and midnight is minuit, and they never take heures.
| Time | Everyday French | 24-hour style |
|---|---|---|
| 3:00 | Il est trois heures. | Il est quinze heures. |
| 3:15 | Il est trois heures et quart. | Il est quinze heures quinze. |
| 3:30 | Il est trois heures et demie. | Il est quinze heures trente. |
| 3:45 | Il est quatre heures moins le quart. | Il est quinze heures quarante-cinq. |
| 3:50 | Il est quatre heures moins dix. | Il est quinze heures cinquante. |
| 12:30 | Il est midi et demi. | Il est douze heures trente. |
Quarters, halves and minutes to
- Et quart adds fifteen minutes and et demie adds thirty.
- Moins counts back from the next hour: moins dix, moins le quart.
- Demie agrees with heure, so trois heures et demie; after midi and minuit you write et demi.
- In the 24-hour style you never use quart, demie or moins: you read the minutes as a number.
When French speakers use the 24-hour clock
Timetables, opening hours, tickets, appointments and the news use the 24-hour clock. In conversation people often switch to the 12-hour style and add du matin, de l'après-midi or du soir when needed: huit heures du soir means 20:00. Written times use h, not a colon: 18 h 30 or 18h30.
Saying at what time
To say at what time something happens, use à : le train part à 7 h 42, on se retrouve à midi. To ask, say À quelle heure ? Around a time is vers: vers huit heures.
Quick self-check
Say 10:45 in everyday French.
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Il est onze heures moins le quart.
How does a timetable say 21:10?
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Vingt et une heures dix.
Correct the mistake: Il est midi heures.
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Il est midi. Midi never takes heures.
How do you ask at what time the film starts?
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À quelle heure commence le film ?