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Telling Time in French - L'Heure

Telling time in French is just a matter of knowing the numbers and a few formulas.

Lesson | Quiz

What time is it? Quelle heure est-il ?
It's one o'clockIl est une heure 1h00
It's two o'clockIl est deux heures 2h00
It's 3:30Il est trois heures et demie
Il est trois heures trente
3h30
It's 4:15Il est quatre heures et quart
Il est quatre heures quinze
4h15
It's 4:45Il est cinq heures moins le quart
Il est cinq heures moins quinze
Il est quatre heures quarante-cinq
4h45
It's 5:10Il est cinq heures dix 5h10
It's 6:50Il est sept heures moins dix
Il est six heures cinquante
6h50
It's 7 a.m.Il est sept heures du matin 7h00
It's 3 p.m.Il est trois heures de l'après-midi
Il est quinze heures
15h00
It's 6 p.m.Il est six heures du soir
Il est dix-huit heures
18h00
It's noonIl est midi 12h00
It's midnightIl est minuit 0h00


Notes

French doesn't have words for "a.m." and "p.m." You can use du matin for a.m., de l'après-midi from noon until about 6 p.m., and du soir from 6 p.m. until midnight, but time is usually expressed on a 24-hour clock. Thus 3 p.m. would be translated as quinze heures or 15h00.

In French, you have to say heure (except with midi and minuit), even though in English "o'clock" is often left out. In addition, the French hour and minute are separated by h (for heure) where in English we use a colon :

  

Practice! Telling Time in French

Related Lessons

French Expressions

  

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