How To Tell The Time In French: A Complete Guide with Audio

Pin224

In this lesson, we will talk about how to tell the time in French (with audio), it’s one of the skills that we practice daily in our conversations, so we will see how to talk about time and learn some useful vocab, let’s get started!

Table Of Contents

How To Tell The Time In French

How To Tell The Time In French

How to ask what time is it?

Here are the most common ways to ask the time in French:

Il est quelle heure? (what time is it?)

Il est quelle heure maintenant? (what time is it now?)

Est-ce que tu as l’heure? (do you have the time?)

T’as l’heure? (What is the time? Very informal)

Quelle heure est-il, s’il vous plait? (what time is it, please?)

How to say the time in French

The 24 hour clock:

From one o’clock to twelve o’clock:

English	French
it’s one o’clock	Il est une heure.
it’s two o’clock	Il est deux heures.
it’s three o’clock	Il est trois heures.
it’s four o’clock	Il est quatre heures.
it’s five o’clock	Il est cinq heures.
it’s six o’clock	Il est six heures.
it’s seven o’clock	Il est sept heures.
it’s eight o’clock	Il est huit heures.
it’s nine o’clock	Il est neuf heures.
it’s ten o’clock	Il est dix heures.
it’s eleven o’clock	Il est onze heures.
it’s twelve o’clock	Il est douze heures
12:00 PM	il est midi.

Note: you can practice what you’ve learned here, and learn how to pronounce each of the words in our Memrise course here, don’t know how to use the platform or sign up? we’ve got you covered in this easy-to-follow tutorial here.

The afternoon hours:

English	French
it’s one o’clock	Il est treize heures.
it’s two o’clock	Il est quatorze heures.
it’s three o’clock	Il est quinze heures.
it’s four o’clock	Il est seize heures.
it’s five o’clock	Il est dix-sept heures.
it’s six o’clock	Il est dix-huit heures.
it’s seven o’clock	Il est dix-neuf heures.
it’s eight o’clock	Il est vingt heures.
it’s nine o’clock	Il est vingt et une heures.
it’s ten o’clock	Il est vingt-deux heures.
it’s eleven o’clock	Il est vingt-trois heures.
it’s twelve o’clock	Il est minuit.
12:00 AM	Il est minuit.

The 12 hour clock:

When using the 12 hour clock, you have to indicate which part of the day it is:

In the morning – du matin
In the afternoon – de l’après-midi
In the evening – du soir
Noon (12pm) – midi
Midnight (12pm) – minuit.

The fractions of time:

The fractions of time (like half, quarter) are used only with the 12 hour format, and they are:

For 15 minutes past the hour : — et quart E.g: Il est cinq heures et quart – It’s a quarter past five (5:15)
For 30 minutes past the hour : — et demie E.g: Il est 7 heures et demie – It’s half past seven (7:30)
For 15 minutes before the hour : — moins le quart E.g: Il est une heure moins le quart – It is a quarter until 1 (12:45)

Related: Numbers in French