By the end of this lesson you'll be able to ask what time it is, tell the time in everyday French, understand the 24-hour clock, and say what time something happens.
Asking and answering
For telling the time, French uses il est, and here il doesn't refer to anyone. It works just like "it" in "it's five o'clock". The word heure (hour) is feminine, and it takes a plural -s from two o'clock onward. You'll use the numbers from the lesson on numbers 21 to 100, along with those you learned first.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Quelle heure est-il ? | kel uhr eh-TEEL | What time is it?Everyday version: Il est quelle heure ? |
| Il est… | ee-LEH | It's… (for the time) |
| une heure | ew-NUHR | one o'clock, an hour |
| deux heures | duh-ZUHR | two o'clock |
| midi | mee-DEE | noon |
| minuit | mee-NWEE | midnight |
| À quelle heure ? | ah kel UHR | At what time? |
| à | ah | at (a time)à huit heures (at eight o'clock) |
You must say the word heures. In English you can stop at "It's five", but French can't. The only times without it are midi and minuit.
Il est trois heures.
It's three o'clock.
Il est minuit !
It's midnight!
Because heures starts with a silent h, numbers link to it: you'll hear a z sound after deux, trois, six and dix, a v sound after neuf, a t sound after huit and sept, and a k sound after cinq.
Past and to the hour
To add minutes, just say them after heures: Il est sept heures dix (7:10), Il est neuf heures vingt-cinq (9:25).
For the past half of the hour, you can use the words below. For minutes before the next hour, French counts backward from the coming hour using moins (minus).
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| et quart | ay KAR | quarter past |
| et demie | ay duh-MEE | half past |
| moins le quart | mwan luh KAR | quarter to |
| moins dix | mwan DEES | ten to |
Il est dix heures et quart.
It's quarter past ten.
Il est onze heures moins le quart.
It's quarter to eleven.
Il est quatre heures moins vingt.
It's twenty to four.
Spelling note: after heures it's et demie, with an -e, because heure is feminine. After midi and minuit, which are masculine, it's et demi: Il est midi et demi.
The time of day
To make it clear which part of the day you mean, add one of these. You'll understand how they're built in the lesson on à and de with articles. For now, learn them as fixed phrases.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| du matin | dew mah-TAN | in the morningFixed phrase for now. |
| de l'après-midi | duh lah-preh-mee-DEE | in the afternoonFixed phrase for now. |
| du soir | dew SWAHR | in the eveningFixed phrase for now. |
Il est six heures du matin.
It's six in the morning.
The 24-hour clock
In France, timetables, tickets and official schedules use the 24-hour clock, and you'll hear it in everyday speech too. Times are written with h: 14h, 20h30.
This style is simpler, since you say the hours and then the minutes as plain numbers. You don't use quart, demie or moins.
- 14h15: quatorze heures quinze
- 18h30: dix-huit heures trente
- 21h45: vingt et une heures quarante-cinq
Notice that 21 hours is vingt et une heures, with une because heure is feminine.
At what time?
To say when something happens, add à before the time.
Le film est à vingt heures trente.
The film is at 8:30 p.m.
À quelle heure ? — À midi.
At what time? — At noon.
Putting it together
Here's a quick exchange at a train station:
- Excusez-moi, il est quelle heure ? (Excuse me, what time is it?)
- Il est cinq heures moins dix. (It's ten to five.)
- Et le train, c'est à quelle heure ? (And the train, what time is it?)
- À dix-sept heures vingt. (At 5:20 p.m.)
What's next
Next, the lesson on daily routines puts the clock to work, so you can say when you get up and go to bed. Combine your times with the lesson on days, months and dates and you'll be able to arrange when to meet someone.