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say the time in french

Say the time in French (Beginners – A1)

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In France, punctuality and time are very important. Sit back, relax, and let’s learn how to say the time in French today. Before you start with this lesson, will first need to make sure that you actually master numbers already. If not, kindly refer to this article that I wrote, featured on LingoDeer’s website: Numbers in French.

Say the time in French : what you need to know

First of all, you need to know that there are two ways of saying and asking the time in French.

Military time: using the 24 hours system. This has been used since the existence of digital clocks and time.

Classic: the classic way of reading time using the 12 hours system.

Nowadays, we use military time quite a lot, which has become our preferred method, as it’s a more precise way of saying the time in French. There is no concept of “AM”(morning) or “PM”(afternoon and evening). 

If you want to use the classic way of saying the time in French, you can use the 12 hours system and add 

du matin” for morning

de l’après-midi” for afternoon

du soir” for evening (mostly starting at 6 PM)

 

Military time : hours

Here are two pictures to help you visualize it:

Le matin (morning)

L'après-midi / le soir (afternoon/evening)

Military time: minutes

You can read the minutes in their full form, exactly how you read them on a digital clock:

10:15 / 10h15* = dix heures quinze

13:20 / 13h20 = treize heures vingt

6:45 / 6h45  = six heures quarante-cinq

17:36 / 17h36 = dix-sept heures trente-six

* “h” stands for “heure” or “heures”

Classic time

How do we read the time the “classic” way?

It is actually very different from the military system. 

 

Matin

Après-midi / Soir

1:00

Une heure du matin

Une heure de l’après-midi

2:00

Deux heures du matin

Deux heures de l’après-midi

3:00

Trois heures du matin

Trois heures de l’après-midi

4:00

Quatre heures du matin

Quatre heures de l’après-midi

5:00

Cinq heures du matin

Cinq heures de l’après-midi

6:00

Six heures du matin

Six heures du soir

7:00

Sept heures du matin

Sept heures du soir

8:00

Huit heures du matin

Huit heures du soir

9:00

Neuf heures du matin

Neuf heures du soir

10:00

Dix heures du matin

Dix heures du soir

11:00

Onze heures du matin

Onze heures du soir

12:00

Midi (Noon)

Minuit (Midnight)

Classic time: minutes

 

Quarters and halfs

Examples

H:15

___ heure(s) et quart

5:15

Cinq heures et quart

H:30

___ heure(s) et demie

8:30

Huit heures et demie

H:45

H+1___ heure(s) moins le quart

4:45

Cinq heures moins le quart

(Quarter to five)

 

Other

Examples

H:35

H+1___ heure(s) moins vingt-cinq

3:35

Quatre heures moins vingt-cinq

H:40

H+1___ heure(s) moins vingt

6:40

Sept heures moins vingt

H:50

H+1___ heure(s) moins dix

9:50

Dix heures moins dix

H:55

H+1___ heure(s) moins cinq

1:55

Deux heures moins cinq

You will also need to specify if it’s “du matin”, “de l’après-midi” or “du soir”.

How to ask for the time in French

There are three ways that you can ask for the time in French: 

1. Quelle heure est-il? (Formal)

2. Il est quelle heure? (Informal)

3. Quelle heure il est? (Informal)

Express the time in French

There are some expressions and prepositions to use in order to express time in French.

 

Meaning

Examples

Il est …

Pour dire l’heure.

To tell the time.

Il est cinq heures.

à

Pour indiquer une certaine heure.

To indicate a certain time.

Le bus passe à sept heures quinze.

de … à

Pour donner une fourchette d’heure.

To give a time window.

Le magasin est ouvert de neuf heures à dix-sept heures.

jusqu’à

Pour une limite de temps.

For a time limit.

Je travaille jusqu’à seize heures.

vers

Pour indiquer un moment ou une heure approximative.

To indicate an approximate time or moment.

J’arriverai au restaurant vers dix-neuf heures.

Félicitations! You are now able to read the time in French! 

If you liked this lesson, feel free to leave a comment down below, or even join our growing community on Facebook. 

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