Telling the Time in French
French never drops the word for hour. Where English says it is two, French says the equivalent of it is two hours, and that word stays in every time you give.
Asking and answering
-
Quelle heure est-il ?
kel ur eh-TEEL
-
What time is it?
-
Il est une heure
eel eh uu-NUR
-
It is one o'clock
-
Il est deux heures
eel eh duh-ZUR
-
It is two o'clock
heures becomes plural from two onwards
-
à huit heures
ah wee-TUR
-
at eight o'clock
Parts of an hour
-
et quart
ay kar
-
quarter past
-
et demie
ay duh-MEE
-
half past
-
moins le quart
mwan luh kar
-
quarter to
-
Il est trois heures dix
eel eh trwah-ZUR deess
-
It is ten past three
-
Il est six heures moins vingt
eel eh see-ZUR mwan van
-
It is twenty to six
Parts of the day
-
le matin
luh mah-TAN
-
the morning
-
l'après-midi
lah-preh mee-DEE
-
the afternoon
-
le soir
luh swar
-
the evening
-
la nuit
lah nwee
-
the night
-
midi
mee-DEE
-
midday
-
minuit
mee-NWEE
-
midnight
Heure, and the 24-hour clock
Heure is never optional. Il est deux is not a sentence; it has to be il est deux heures.
Midi and minuit are the two exceptions, because they already contain the idea of an hour: il est midi.
French uses the 24-hour clock far more than English does, and not only in timetables. Someone inviting you to dinner may well say dix-neuf heures trente rather than sept heures et demie.
Written dates run day first: 3/5/2026 is le 3 mai 2026. Only the first of the month is an ordinal, le 1er mai.
- Il est sept heures et demie.It is half past seven.
- Le train part à seize heures vingt.The train leaves at 4:20pm.
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