2.15: Structure - L'heure
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In this section, you will learn how to tell what time it is
Listen to the audio clips that follow on this page to hear the French pronunciation of vocabulary and examples presented.
On étudie !
"This work" by pixabay.com is in the Public Domain, CC0Quelle heure est-il ?
(a) To ask what time it is, you say Quelle heure est-il ?
To answer, you say Il est [number] heures.
— Quelle heure est-il ? (What time is it?)
— Il est neuf heures. (It is nine o'clock.)
(b) For 12:00 P.M. you say midi. For 12:00 A.M. you say minuit.
— Quelle heure est-il, s'il vous plaît ? (What time is it, please?)
— Il est midi. Il est minuit. (It's noon. It's midnight.)
(c) To specify the number of minutes between hours we have the following options:
• For minutes up to 30, just say the number of minutes after the hour:
Il est neuf heures dix (It's 9:10)
Il est neuf heures vingt-cinq (It's 9:25)
• The half hour is expressed by et demi(e). You can also just say trente.
Il est neuf heures et demie (It's 9:30)
Il est midi et demi. (It’s 12:30)*
Il est neuf heures trente. (It's 9:30)
* To learn when the word demi(e) is spelled with an “e” at the end, read this article on French spelling.
• For minutes before the next hour (and after the half hour point), say moins
Il est dix heures moins dix [= It is 10 o'clock minus 10] (It's 9:50)
In English, we often count the minutes until the next hour (e.g., ten 'til eight), but in French we count backwards from the next hour (e.g., huit heures moins dix [eight minus ten])
• The quarter hour is expressed with quart.
We can either add it to the hour with et quart:
Il est neuf heures et quart (It's 9:15)
Or substract it from the hour with moins le quart:
Il est dix heures moins le quart (It's 9:45)
You can also just say quinze instead of quart, like this:
Il est neuf heures quinze (It's 9:15). Il est neuf heures moins quinze (It's 9:45).
"This work" by is in the Public Domain, CC0(d) To distinguish between A.M. and P.M. you say: du matin, de l'après-midi and du soir:
Il est deux heures du matin. (It's 2:00 A.M. It's two in the morning.)
Il est trois heures de l'après-midi. (It's 3:00 P.M. It's three in the afternoon.)
Il est huit heures du soir. (It's 8:00 P.M. It's eight in the evening.)
(e) In French, the hour and minutes are separated by the letter h, which stands for heure(s), instead of the colon (:):
11:10 ➔ 11h10 3:00 ➔ 3h 5:15 ➔ 5h15
(f) The 24-hour system (sometimes called l'heure officielle) is often used in France and is written like this:
Il est 15h30. = Il est quinze heures trente. (It is 3:30 P.M.)
Il est 22h45. = Il est vingt-deux heures quarante-cinq. (It is 10:45 P.M.)
This is commonly used for formal scheduling (ie: transportation, work, entertainment schedules).
With the 24-hour system, you also avoid using “demi(e)”, “et quart” and “moins le quart”, and use numbers instead.
Learn more about l'heure officielle by watching this video: How to tell time in French.
(g) To ask someone at which time an event takes place, you say À quelle heure est.... ? (At what time is....?), where à = at:
À quelle heure est le cours de biologie ? (At what time is biology class?)
You use à in your reply as well: à midi (at noon), à huit heures (at eight o'clock). Notice the différences below:
Il est huit heures du matin. (It is eight o'clock in the morning.)
La classe commence à huit heures du matin. (Class starts at eight o'clock in the morning.)
What the time is vs. at what time something happens:
— Quelle heure est-il ? (What time is it?)
— Il est dix heures. (It's ten o'clock.)
— À quelle heure commence la soirée ? (At what time does the party begin?)
— La soirée commence à dix heures. (The party begins at ten o'clock.)
(h) Here are some other useful terms to talk about time:
| Français | Anglais | Exemples |
|---|---|---|
| pile | sharp, on the dot | Il est onze heures pile. |
| presque | almost | Il est presque huit heures. |
| vers | about, around, towards | Il arrive vers 9h. |
Vocabulary used with telling time
| Français | Anglais |
|---|---|
| du matin | in the morning (A.M.) |
| midi | noon, midday |
| de l'après-midi | in the afternoon (P.M.) |
| du soir | in the evening (P.M.) |
| minuit | midnight |
| et demi(e) | half past, thirty |
| et quart | quarter past |
| moins le quart | quarter 'til, to |
| la seconde (f.) | second |
| la minute (f.) | minute |
| l’heure (f.) | hour |
Vocabulary (adverbs of time) to describe when things happen on a given day
| Français | Anglais |
|---|---|
| le matin | morning, in the morning |
| dans la matinée | in the morning |
| ce matin | this morning |
| au petit matin | in the early morning |
| pendant la journée, dans la journée | during the day, in the daytime |
| à midi | at noon, midday |
| après-midi (m.) | afternoon |
| dans l'après-midi | in or during the afternoon |
| cet après-midi | this afternoon |
| le soir | in the evening |
| du soir | in the evening (P.M.) |
| en soirée | in the evening time |
| ce soir | tonight, this evening |
| la nuit | night, at night |
| dans la nuit | in the night |
| à minuit | at midnight |
Study the Quizlet vocabulary flashcards. Listen and repeat the French pronunciation.
On approfondit !
Use the following resources to type accents and/or search for words:
- Accents: ç, à, é, è, â, ê, î, ô, û, ù, ë, ï, ü
- Dictionnaire français-anglais