Word for time in french

Whether you’re traveling to France or learning the French language, being able to tell time is important. From asking what time it is to the key vocabulary you need for speaking in French about hours, minutes, and days, this lesson will guide you through everything you need to know.

French Vocabulary for Telling Time

To begin with, there are a few key French vocabulary words related to time that you should know. These are the basics and will help you throughout the rest of this lesson.

The Rules for Telling Time in French

Telling time in French is just a matter of knowing the French numbers and a few formulas and rules. It’s different than we use in English, so here are the basics:

• The French word for «time,» as in, «What time is it?» is l’heure, not le temps. The latter means «time» as in «I spent a lot of time there.»
• In English, we often leave out «o’clock» and it’s perfectly fine to say «It’s seven.» or «I’m leaving at three-thirty.» This is not so in French. You always have to say heure, except when saying midi (noon) and minuit (midnight).
• In French, the hour and minute are separated by h (for heure, as in 2h00) where in English we use a colon (: as in 2:00).
• 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. However, time is usually expressed on a 24-hour clock. That means that 3 p.m. is normally expressed as quinze heures (15 hours) or 15h00, but you can also say trois heures de l’après-midi (three hours after noon).

What Time Is It? (Quelle heure est-il?)

When you ask what time it is, you will receive an answer similar to this. Keep in mind that there are a few different ways to express different times within the hour, so it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with all of these. You can even practice this throughout your day and speak the time in French whenever you look at a clock.

Asking the Time in French

Conversations regarding what time it is will use questions and answers similar to these. If you’re traveling in a French-speaking country, you’ll find these very useful as you try to maintain your itinerary.

Periods of Time in French

Now that we have the basics of telling time covered, expand your French vocabulary by studying the words for periods of time. From seconds to millennium, this shortlist of words covers the entire expanse of time.  

Points in Time in French

Each day has various points in time that you might need to describe in French. For instance, you might want to talk about a beautiful sunset or let someone know what you’re doing at night. Commit these words to memory and you’ll have no problem doing just that.

Temporal Prepositions

As you begin to formulate sentences with your new French time vocabulary, you will find it useful to know these temporal prepositions. These short words are used to further define when something is taking place.

Relative Time in French

Time is relative to other points in time. For instance, there is always a yesterday which is followed by today and tomorrow, so you’ll find this vocabulary a great addition to your ability to explain relationships in time. 

Temporal Adverbs

As you become even more fluent in French, consider adding a few temporal adverbs to your vocabulary. Once again, they can be used to further define when something is taking place.

Frequency in French

There will also be times when you need to speak about the frequency of an event. Whether it only happens once or reoccurs on a weekly or monthly basis, this short vocabulary list will help you achieve that.

Adverbs of Frequency

Adverbs that relate to frequency are just as important and you’ll find yourself using this quite often as your French studies progress.

Time Itself: Le Temps

Le temps refers broadly either to the weather or a duration of time, indeterminate or specific. Because it is such a basic concept that surrounds us every day, many French idiomatic expressions have evolved using temps. Here are a few common ones that you might need to know.

The French word for time is
temps

Gender

The gender of temps is masculine. E.g. le temps.

French Definition

time
1. n. Temps.
I don’t have the time to do this.
Je n’ai pas le temps de faire ça.
Time is the fire in which we burn.
As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.
2. n. Heure.
What time is it?
Quelle heure est-il ?
3. n. Fois, reprise.
This is his first time.
C’est sa première fois.
Several times.
Plusieurs fois.
4. n. Fois. (note) Voir aussi times.
His car runs three times faster than mine.
Sa voiture roule trois fois plus vite que la mienne.
5. v. Fixer l’heure de.
6. v. Calculer.
7. v. Chronométrer.
8. v. Minuter.

Translations for time and their definitions

fois
1. n-f. time, an instance of something happening; a repetition
2. n-f. (arithmetic) times, multiplied by
3. n. plural of foi

temps
1. n-m. time (in general)
je n’ai pas le temps de faire ça — I haven’t got (the) time to do that
il faut encore du temps — I need more time
2. n-m. weather
le temps n’est pas bon ici — the weather is no good here
quel temps fait-il ? — how’s the weather?
3. n-m. (grammar) tense
un temps composé — a compound tense
un temps simple — a simple tense
changez le temps du verbe — change the tense of the verb

époque
1. n. epoch
2. n. time (time period)
à la même époque. — at the same time.
Philippe Val, à l’époque son directeur, avait décidé de publier en France les caricatures danoises de Mohamet.
Philippe Val, the director at the time, had decided to publish in France the Danish cartoons of Mohammed.

peine
1. n. pain
2. n. effort, trouble
3. n. sorrow
4. adv. barely, hardly; used only in the phrase à peine

heure
1. n. hour, time
2. n. o’clock

ère
1. n. era (all meanings)

Pronunciation

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Let’s talk about TIME. There is a huge list of words and topics about time but today, we’ll be narrowing it down and only talk about French words and phrases related to time.

This particular article is quite short and concise and is divided into four parts. You can click the Quick Navigation guide below to jump to specific lists.

Let’s begin learning about French time phrases and words, shall we?

I. French Words and Phrases about Frequency

II. French Words and Phrases about Relative Time

III. French Words and Phrases about Points in time / Periods of time

IV. Prepositions about Time

Did you like this lesson about French time words and phrases? You can find more short lessons like this in the e-book Beginner’s French Grammar in 30 Days. It’s filled with short, concise lessons perfect for even the busiest learners.

The French language is used in parts of Belgium, Switzerland, and Canada, in several countries of northern and western Africa and the Caribbean, and elsewhere. It is a Romantic term for the Indo-European household. It plummeted from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman monarchy.

Telling the time in French is very important. It doesn’t matter which part of the world you are from so consider it a beautiful thing to be one of the people reading this article. Telling the time in French can be very complex which is why this article is here to help you sort it out and become good at french.

How to tell the time in French is a great thing for you. Time in French is “le temps”. Knowing how it is in French is great but pronouncing it is another step to make saying the time in French interesting for you.

Imagine being able to tell the time in French and pronounce it correctly. It shows that you know are not just talking but you know it well. That is a plus for you. 

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To learn how to pronounce and get your french time pronunciations correctly, book a French tutor through italki TODAY!

How to say the time in French and French time expressions

To tell the time in French, there are several phrases you are to use. Use phrases like: il est une heures. Il est une heure means it’s one o’clock. Il est deux heures meaning it’s two o’clock. 

Another example of three o’clock in French is “il est trois heure.” Which is spelled out as 3h00, or 15h00 to represent this is 3:00 pm. This is excellent if the time is a particular hour in the area.

If the time exceeds by a few minutes or there are minutes to the time, you can mention the cardinal number of minutes after hours. If it’s half past three or 3:30 PM, use the French word for thirty; the french word for thirty is trente. 

In a sentence, it becomes; 

“Il est trois heures trente minute.” 

In the same way that English uses “half past,” the French use “et demie,” so we can also say “Il est trois heures et demie,” or 15h30. Take note that when inscribing the time in French you use something different on the colon using “h.” For example;

10:30 AM becomes 10h30 (dix heures et demie). 

The french word for “time,” as in, “what time is it?” Is l’heure, not temps. The latter means “time,” as in “I spent a lot of time there.” 

Some basic time expressions that you can use to signify not necessarily the time on the clock but the time of the day like morning, afternoon, and Evening are; 

Bonjour: it is used in the morning when you see a person or someone. The word is used to greet that person. In translation to English, it means; Hello or Good morning

Au revoir (in French) which means Goodbye (in English)

Bonsoir ( in French) which means Good evening (in English)

Bonne Nuit ( it represents the dark time of the night) in English it is translated as;  Good night

Temps means Time ( the time of the day or the time on the clock)

Jour means Day ( represents a time in the week; the days of the week like Monday, Tuesday and Sunday).

Time expressions don’t only tell the time but specify the time of the day. Time expressions that specify the time of the day are;

• Avant-hier which means; The day before yesterday

• Hier which means; Yesterday

• Aujourd’hui which means; Today

• Demain which means; Tomorrow

• Après-demain Meaning;  The day after tomorrow

• The expressions above specify the day.

• Other time expressions are:

• Five minutes ago, expressed as:  Il y a cinq minutes

• An hour ago expressed as: Il y a une heureA week ago as; Il y a une semaine

• Two weeks ago, expressed as:  Il y a deux semaines

• A month ago expressed as: Il y a un mois

• A long time ago expressed as: Il y a longtemps

Expressions that specify the time of the day are:

• La nuit dernière ( the previous night) Last night

• Ce soir ( the night of the present day) Tonight

• Demain soir (the night following the current day) Tomorrow night

• Le matin or dans la matinée In the morning

• L’après-midi or dans l’après-midi (the périod after noon) In the afternoon

• Hier matin ( the morning of the previous day) Yesterday morning

• Hier après-midi ( the afternoon of the previous day)  Yesterday afternoon

• Demain après-midi ( refers to the afternoon the next day) Tomorrow afternoon

• Demain soir ( the day in the evening following the next )  Tomorrow evening

• Hier soir – (it refers to the evening) Meaning Last night 

• Ce matin (the morning of the day you’re in at the moment) This morning

• Cet après-midi ( the afternoon of that day) This afternoon

• Demain matin (the next morning) Tomorrow morning

Time expressions of the week, month and year 

• This week, is expressed as Cette semaine.
• This month is expressed as Ce mois-ci.
• This year is expressed as Cette année.

How to say;  what is the time? In French and French clock times

Knowing how to say the time in French is very useful. If you ever make plans to travel to a french country, being able to ask; what is time in French is important. Telling the time in French would also help you make acquaintances with people who can not help themselves. 

How to say the time in French ; 

• To say; what is the time in French, you say
• Quelle heure est-il ? 

• When giving the the time in French, or when someone asks for the time, you would say ;

• Il est 13 heures: it is 1 p.m. 

• Il est bientôt 13 heures: it is 1 p.m. soon

• Il sera bientôt 13 heures: it will be 1 p.m. soon

• Il est presque 13 heures: it is almost 1 p.m. this depends on the time the person is asking for.

You may have wondered if french speakers use the 24-hour clock. Yes, they do. French speakers also use the 24-hour clock. 

The difference is, that the English language uses o’clock and the french language uses “heures” for example;

In English “5 o’clock in the morning” would be written in French as;  “(5 heures du matin)”  

“5 o’clock in the evening) in English would be written as “(5 heures du soir)”.

French clock times are not written as English clock times are written. For example;

3: 45 pm in English is written as 3 h 45 in French. It applies to every other clock time.

Conclusion

Learning French online with help from italki, how French clock time is written and the time of the day in French is essential. It could guide you at any place to understand information.

However, It is not efficient enough to just read. Get to excellently pronounce french words with the help italki, providing quality lessons at your convenience.

By • September 13, 2012 • Updated March 23, 2023

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How to Tell Time in French

Telling time is an everyday activity. That’s why you need to master the vocabulary and expressions relating to time when you’re learning French. Luckily, learning how to tell time in French is fairly easy. Follow our guide to the most useful phrases and words, and you’ll progress towards fluency in record time (pun intended).

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English vs French: The Differences in Time Logic

There are a few basic differences between telling time in English vs French. Here are the key rules that you need to follow to stay grammatically correct in French:

Time Itself

The French have two different words for time: “l’heure” and “le temps”. “L’heure” describes time on the clock, whereas “le temps” is for time as a length. Be careful which one you use in different situations. You can ask “Quelle heure est-il?” for “What time is it?”, and say “Les temps sont durs” for “Times are hard”.

You Need to Say “Heure”

While saying “o’clock” in English is optional, you always need to say heure after the number if you’re telling time in French. The only two exceptions are “midi” (noon), and “minuit” (midnight)

An “H” Instead of a Colon

When the French are writing the time, they put an “h” (for heure) between the hours and minutes. Whereas in English, the same would call for a colon. 2:30 becomes 2h30 in French when you tell the time.

A.M. or P.M.? Neither!

Generally, the French use the 24-hour clock when they’re telling the time. However, if they want to use the 12-hour clock, they don’t differentiate with a.m. or p.m. Instead, they use the following three expressions after the time:

• du matin: In the morning, until noon.
• de l’après-midi: From noon until 6 p.m.
• du soir: From 6 p.m. until midnight.

The Basics of Telling Time in French

To start off, here are the key words to telling time in French. These time related expressions are used very often, so they’re extremely useful for all language learners:

time	l’heure
noon	midi
midnight	minuit
and a quarter	et quart
quarter to	moins le quart
and a half	et demie
in the morning	du matin
in the afternoon	de l’après-midi
in the evening	du soir

What Time Is It? – Quelle heure est-il? 

The first step of telling time is, of course, learning French numbers. The following high-frequency phrases are a few examples of what you may hear, when you ask a French person for the time. Study these phrases, and notice the sentence structure and grammar associated with them. Remember this skeleton, and telling time in French will become infinitely easier.

Il est _____ heure (_____).

One thing to look out for is what comes after “heure” when you’re telling a specific time within the hour. There may be several different ways to say 3:45 in French. So, make sure you commit all variations to memory.

It’s one o’clock	Il est une heure	1h00
It’s two o’clock	Il est deux heures	2h00
It’s 3:30	Il est trois heures et demie Il est trois heures trente	3h30
It’s 4:15	Il est quatre heures et quart Il est quatre heures quinze	4h15
It’s 4:45	Il est cinq heures moins le quart Il est cinq heures moins quinze Il est quatre heures quarante-cinq	4h45
It’s 5:10	Il est cinq heures dix	5h10
It’s 6:50	Il est sept heures moins dix Il est six heures cinquante	6h50
It’s 6 a.m.	Il est six heures du matin	6h00
It’s 4 p.m.	Il est quatre heures de l’après-midi Il est seize heures	16h00
It’s noon	Il est midi	12h00
It’s midnight	Il est minuit	0h00

How Do You Ask the Time in French?

These are the most common phrases if you’re wondering what time it is in French. Use these to politely ask a stranger, or to strike up a conversation easily. 

What time is it?	Quelle heure est-il ?
Do you have the time, please?	Est-ce que vous avez l’heure, s’il vous plaît ?
What time is the film? The film is at seven o’clock in the evening.	À quelle heure est le film? Le film est à sept heures du soir.

Periods of Time in French

If you’re talking about periods of time, it’s useful to have this French vocabulary. 

a second	une seconde
a minute	une minute
an hour	une heure
a day / a whole day	un jour, une journée
a week	une semaine
a month	un mois
a year / a whole year	un an, une année
a decade	une décennie
a century	un siècle
a millennium	un millénaire

Relative Time Expressions in French

These expressions relating to time are extremely useful in conversation. Everyday French doesn’t require a large vocabulary. 80% of spoken language comes from 20% of our vocabulary, according to the Pareto Principle. So, focus on high-frequency expressions when you’re learning a foreign language. The following words and phrases are especially common, and you’ll reach fluency rapidly if you learn them.

yesterday	hier
today	aujourd’hui
now	maintenant
tomorrow	demain
the day before yesterday	avant-hier
the day after tomorrow	l’après-demain
the day after, the next day	le lendemain
last week	la semaine passée/dernière
next week	la semaine prochaine
days of the week	les jours de la semaine
months of the year	les mois de l’année
the calendar	le​ calendrier
the four seasons	les quatre saisons
a little while ago, in a little while	tout à l’heure
right away	tout de suite
within a week	d’ici une semaine
for, since	depuis
ago (depuis versus il y a)	il y a
on time	à l’heure
in time	à temps
at that time	à l’époque
early	en avance
late	en retard

Describe a Sunset in French

French is a beautiful, and romantic language. There are expressions of time that become especially beautiful in French. Use this vocabulary to delve into the romantic side of French time expressions.

sunrise	le lever de soleil
dawn	l’aube (f)
morning	le matin
afternoon	l’après-midi
noon	midi
evening	le soir
dusk	le crépuscule, entre chien et loup
sunset	le coucher de soleil
night	la nuit
midnight	le minute

French Grammar When Telling Time

Grammar is often boring. It’s a repetitive drill that no language learner enjoy. However, with these high-frequency words, you can master the grammar of telling time in French easily. Here are the most important and common prepositions and adverbs you’ll need to tell time.

Temporal Prepositions

since	depuis
during	pendant
at	à
in	en
in	dans
for	pour

Temporal Adverbs

currently	actuellement
then	alors
after	après
today	aujourd’hui
previously, beforehand	auparavant
before	avant
soon	bientôt
meanwhile	cependant
afterwards, meanwhile	ensuite
for a long time	longtemps
now	maintenant
anytime	n’importe quand
then	puis
recently	récemment
late	tard
all of a sudden, suddenly	tout à coup
in a little while, a little while ago	tout à l’heure

Frequency in French

These phrases and adverbs are extremely useful when you’re speaking French. If you want to reach French fluency fast, make sure you commit these to memory.

once	une fois
once a week	une fois par semaine
daily	quotidien
every day	tous les jours
every other day	tous les deux jours
weekly	hebdomadaire
every week	toutes les semaines
monthly	mensuel
yearly	annuel

again	encore
one more time	encore une fois
never, ever	jamais
sometimes	parfois
sometimes	quelquefois
rarely	rarement
often	souvent
always	toujours

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You can use this extensive vocabulary to describe everything to do with telling the time in French. But you need much more to reach fluency in French. You need a reliable method, spaced repetition, and high-frequency phrases. And that’s exactly what OptiLingo offers.

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Telling the time in French isn’t the easiest thing in the world and can even be quite confusing at first if you come from a country that doesn’t use the 24-hour clock.

Luckily, it becomes a lot easier once you understand a few basic concepts and know the most important time-related vocabulary.

Let’s spend some time learning how to do it and learn useful rules and expressions related to telling the time in French!

Il est ___ heure(s) is the way to say “It’s ___ o’clock” in French.

All you need to do, of course, is add the number of hours it is. For instance, Il est 9 heures – It’s nine o’clock.

Note that the word heure has to agree with the number of hours. So if there’s more than one, it gets an “s” tacked to the end when written. When you say it, as with most French words, the “s” is silent.

The word heure can also mean “hour”, as you probably already knew. Unlike in English, this word is always used when telling time, even when there are minutes.

For instance, in English we’d say “It’s nine o’clock” versus “It’s nine twenty-five.” In French, the “o’clock” (heure(s)) stays: Il est 9 heures; Il est 9 heures 25.

As you may have noticed from the last example, to add minutes to the time in French, place them after the word heure(s). Here’s another example: Il est 11 heures 35. (It’s 11:35.).

When writing the time, the French usually use just an “h” to stand in for “heures”, so you’d typically see this statement written as Il est 11h35.  

In certain cases, such as departure and arrival boards in some train stations and airports, you may see the h replaced by a colon (:).

You might be thinking that telling time in French is pretty easy, and you’re right!  But there is one thing that might be tricky at first, depending on how you tell time in your native country:  The French use the 24-hour clock.

This means that most of the time, any hour from 1pm to 12am corresponds to a number from 13 to 0.

So, typically, if you want to say “It’s 2pm”, you’d say Il est 14h. If you want to say “The show starts at 7:30 pm”, it would be, Le spectacle commence à 19h30.

The twenty-four hour clock in French

Using twenty-four hours to tell time, instead of the numbers 1-12 differentiated by “am” and “pm” can be confusing at first. But when you get used to it, you’ll understand why the French, who value logic and concision, have adopted this system.

Namely, it’s really hard to be confused about what time something takes place, and you don’t need to spend extra time or use extra space saying or writing “am” or “pm”.

Here’s a handy chart to help you see which time on the 24-hour clock corresponds to which time on the 12-hour clock.

13h	1 pm
14h	2pm
15h	3pm
16h	4pm
17h	5pm
18h	6pm
19h	7pm
20h	8pm
21h	9pm
22h	10pm
23h	11pm
0h (minuit)	12 am (midnight)

Note that while you will see 0h on clocks, timetables, and other places the time is set down in writing, the French don’t say “0 heures” the way we might say 12am. Instead, they always say minuit (midnight).

This remains the case when minutes are added after. So, 0h25 is said “minuit vingt-cinq“.

The same goes for 12h, for that matter. The French rarely say douze heures. Instead, they say midi (noon). And as with minuit, the word midi is said with minutes after it, as well. For example: 12h = midi./12h46= midi quarante-six.

Do you have to use the twenty-four hour clock when telling time in French?

The more you read and listen to French, the more you’ll get used to seeing and hearing the twenty-four hour clock used. And if you’re speaking or writing French a lot, you’ll get used to using it, as well. I know that’s the case for me.

That said, if you’re really stuck, you can use the 12-hour clock in French, although it’s not the best way. Generally, a person will understand what time you mean based on the context, as in English. For instance, if someone asks what time it is and it’s clearly daylight outside, if you say Il est trois heures instead of Il est quinze heures, the person will understand what you mean.

It’s more complicated, though, if you’re talking about past or future events. In that case, you’d need to add additional details. For instance: On a rendez-vous ce soir à 8h. (We’re meeting tonight at 8pm.)

It’s easier use the 24-hour clock: On a rendez-vous à 20h. 

So, while it’s good to know that you have the 12-hour clock to fall back on, it’s unquestionably best to learn to use the 24-hour clock in French.

I just spoke about using additional time-related words to show what time it is if you use the 12-hour clock (not ideal). But there are often times when the French use words to emphasize how early or late something is, just as we might do in English.

For example: Pourquoi tu m’appelles ? Il est 4h du matin ! (Why are you calling me? It’s four in the morning!)

Note that, as you can see in the example, “in the morning” is du matin (literally “of the morning”) in French. The same goes for “in the evening/at night” (du soir) and “in the afternoon” (de l’après-midi).

Of course, you won’t only use this type of structure. Here’s another common example: Son train part ce soir à 21h15. (Her train leaves tonight at 9:15pm.) This time, the prepositions involved are the same as they would be in English.

How to say “quarter to”, “quarter past”, “to/till”, and “half past” in French

In English, when telling time, some people prefer to use expressions like “quarter past”, “quarter to”, “to/till”, and “half past”, rather than just saying the hour followed by the minutes. If you’re one of these people, you’ll be happy to know that the situation is the same in French.

Here’s how to say these phrases in French:

• et quart –quarter past/quarter after. Ex: Il est 10 heures et quart.
• moins le quart – quarter to/quarter till – Ex: Il est 10 heures moins le quart.
• moins ___ – to/till. Note that, as in English, this should be used reasonably. It’s one thing to say Il est 1 heure moins dix. (It’s 10 till one (o’clock)). But something like Il est 1 heure moins quarante. (It’s 40 till one (o’clock)) is a bit excessive. As a general rule, you should only use moins when it’s 30 minutes or less till the next hour. And if you don’t like doing math, remember that you don’t have to use this expression at all – just recognize it.
• et demi – half past –  Ex: Il est 10 heures et demi.

As in English, not everyone will use these expressions instead of simply saying the number of minutes, but they are fairly common, especially et demi. This means that it’s at least good to understand and recognize them.

How to ask “What time is it?” in French

Now  you know how to tell the time in French, but you may be wondering how to ask what time it is.

The most common way to ask “What time is it?” in French is Quelle heure est-il ? but it’s not the only way.

The reply, of course, is simply Il est ___ heure(s).

As you can see, the word le temps is never used when talking about telling time in French; this word refers more to the concept of time. Heure is your go-to word when it comes to asking or telling what time it is in French.

Here’s a sample dialogue:

Excusez-moi, monsieur, quelle heure-est-il ?

Il est 16h 35.

Excuse me, sir, what time is it?

It’s 4:35pm.

How can you practice telling the time in French?

One of the easiest ways to practice telling the time in French is to use your watch, phone, or clock to quiz yourself throughout the day. See how quickly you can say the time you see, in French – especially when it comes to using the 24-hour clock.

You can check out our article on the numbers in French if you need to brush up on them.

Reading and listening to French is also an excellent way to get used to telling time in French. Our list of free French reading, watching, and listening resources is a good place to start.

I’d also suggest this article if you want to learn some additional French time vocabulary.

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I hope you found this article on how to tell the time in French helpful. Quelle heure est-il chez toi ?

If you travel to a French speaking country, chances are that you’re going to have to understand or tell the time in French. Admittedly, there are many ways of telling the time in French, so it can be a bit confusing…

But fear not! My free lesson will teach you the time in French in… no time at all!

And thanks to my audio recordings, you will know the difference between “deux heures” and “douze heures” and won’t miss your train!

This free French lesson – like many on French Today’s blog – features audio recordings. Click on the link next to the headphones to hear the French pronunciation.

Let’s dive right in and see how to tell the time in French.

How To Say Hour in French?

The French word you’ll hear the most for time in the context of telling the time is the word “heure”. It’s a feminine word, and because “heure” starts with a silent h, its pronunciation will vary a lot in liaison, so it’s essential you learn how to tell the time in French with audio recordings.

French Time Pronunciation

This free French lesson – like many on French Today’s blog – features audio recordings. Click on the link next to the headphones to hear the French pronunciation.

I encourage you to repeat out-loud after me so you memorize the right way to tell the time in French.

1. It’s one o’clock – Il est une heure (note there is no S at heure since there is only one)
2. It’s two o’clock – Il est deux heures
3. It’s three o’clock – Il est trois heures
4. It’s four o’clock – Il est quatre heures
5. It’s five o’clock – Il est cinq heures
6. It’s six o’clock – Il est six heures
7. It’s seven o’clock – Il est sept heures
8. It’s eight o’clock – Il est huit heures
9. It’s nine o’clock – Il est neuf heures
10. It’s ten o’clock – Il est dix heures
11. It’s eleven o’clock – Il est onze heures
12. It’s twelve o’clock – Il est douze heures

Repeating the Word Hour in French.

In French, when you tell the time, you always have to repeat the word “heure(s)”. This is the biggest mistake I hear English speakers make when telling the time in French: they forget to include the word “heure”.

In English, you can say : ‘it’s one’.
In French you have to say: “Il est une heure“, saying the word “heure”.
In English you can say: ‘it’s quarter past one’.
In French you have to say: “il est une heure et quart“, saying the word “heure”.

The word heure(s) is pronounced in the same breath as the number, as if it were a weird ending to it.

The key to understanding the time in French

So as you can hear with the audio recordings, the word “heure” becomes neur, zeur, treur, keur, teur with the liaisons and glidings.

Mastering the right pronunciation of the word hour in French is the key to understanding the time in French.

Knowing your French numbers from 0 to 59

Now, to tell the time efficiently and understand it, you need to first learn how to say the numbers in French.

In this lesson, I’m going to concentrate on the expressions and pronunciation differences but I won’t go over how to say the numbers 0 to 59. Please follow this link to learn how to count in French.

How do you Write the Time in French?

Note: in writing, the word “heure” is abbreviated as “h”, not the English “:”.

We don’t write nor say the word “minute” when we say the time, but if you need to abbreviate the word minute, it would be “mn” in French.

• 1:45 in French would be written 1 h 45
• 45 minutes in French would be abbreviated as 45 mn

More Ways To Tell the Time in French

As I said in the intro, there are many ways of telling the time in French.

The 24 Hour French Clock

In French, all the official schedules (TV, radio, trains, planes etc…) use what you call in English “military time”.

Based on a 24 hour clock, you say exactly the number of hour, then the number of minutes.

Note that we don’t say “hundred” for a round hour like you do in English: in French, we just say the hour number. But don’t forget to say the word heure(s)!

• Il est treize heures quarante-cinq = it’s 13:45.
• Il est vingt heures = it’s 20:00.

Check out my French number audiobook. Over four hours of clear explanations, and random number drills recorded at several speeds. Click on the link for more info, a full list of content and audio samples.

This 4+ hours audiobook goes in-depth on how to construct the numbers and how to properly pronounce them with all the modern glidings and elisions that can sometimes completely change the number from it’s written form!

I also cover many French expressions that use numbers as well as how to properly tell the time and understand prices.

All throughout the audiobook, you will find extensive audio drills recorded at 3 different speeds and featuring numbers out of order so you really get a true workout!

Back to studying the time in French.

Minutes Past & to the Hour

This way of telling the time in French is pretty much the same as in English. You just say the number of minutes to or past the hour.

• 1 h 45
  It’s fifteen to two – il est deux heures moins quinze
  It’s forty-five past one / it’s one forty-five – il est une heure quarante-cinq

Common French Time Expressions

Just like in English, we also use common French time expressions in France, like saying ‘noon’ instead of 12PM.

Let’s learn them!

noon	midi
midnight	minuit
and a quarter	et quart
quarter to	moins le quart
and a half	et demie
in the morning	du matin
in the afternoon	de l’après-midi
in the evening	du soir

How To Say Quarter Past in French?

To translate the time notion of ‘quarter past’ in French, we say “et quart”.

• It’s quarter past one: il est une heure et quart.

Note the difference between quart (pronounced car) et quatre (4).

How To Say Quarter To in French?

To translate the time notion of ‘quarter to’ in French, we say “moins le quart” (quarter of – pronounced car)

• It’s quarter to four: il est quatre heures moins le quart.

You also want to glide your “le” as much as possible – it almost disappears in modern spoken French pronunciation.

How To Say Half Past in French?

to translate the time notion of ‘half past’ in French, we say “et demie “(and an half, half past the hour)

• It’s half past one: il est une heure et demie.

Note: we glide over the first “e” of demie = dmee in spoken French.

How to Say Noon and Midnight in French?

The French language has equivalents of noon and midnight :

• it’s noon – il est midi
• it’s midnight – il est minuit

Note that these 2 French time expressions do not require the word heure since their position in the day is self-implied.

I strongly recommend that you use these, since “douze heures” sounds a lot like “deux heures” when you make the liaison…

“deux heures” versus “douze heures”

Otherwise, in official time midi is “douze heures” and minuit is “zéro heure” (no S at heure).

How to say AM and PM in French?

You could also be using the twelve hour clock and then add the expressions du matin in the morning, de l’après-midi in the afternoon, du soir in the evening…

Now let see some useful French time sentences.

13 French Time Sentences

Please press play on the audio player to hear my audio recordings. I left enough time for you to repeat out-loud and I encourage you to do it!

1. Quelle heure est-il ? = what time is it?
2. Il est quelle heure ? = what time is it? (street French)
3. Auriez-vous l’heure, s’il vous plaît ? = would you tell me the time, please?
4. Tu peux me donner l’heure ? = can you give me the time (street French)
5. C’est à quelle heure ? = at what time is it?
6. Il est neuf heures pile, neuf heures précises = it’s nine sharp.
7. Il est presque minuit = it’s almost midnight
8. Il est moins dix = it’s 10 minutes to whatever hour it is now…
9. Mon cours commence à la demie = my lesson starts at – whatever hour it is now – thirty.
10. C’est ouvert de quelle heure à quelle heure ? = it’s open from what time to what time?
11. Le concert est à quelle heure? = at what time is the concert
12. Il arrive dans trois quarts d’heure = he’ll be there in 45 minutes.
13. Ce magasin est ouvert 24 heures sur 24 = this shop is open all day and all night long (a concept almost unheard of in France  

3 Ways to Translate Time in French

Watch out! There are three ways to translate the word ‘time’ in French.

1 – Time as in telling time is “l’heure” in French.
What time is it?
Quelle heure est-il ?

2 – Time as in a period of time is “le temps” in French
I would like to spend some time in France.
J’aimerais passé du temps en France

3 – Time as in instance is “la fois” in French.
How many times have you been to Paris?
Tu es allé à Paris combien de fois ?

How Should I Tell the Time in French?

So, which method should you use to tell the time in French? 12 hour clock, 24 hours official time, minutes past or to the hour, expressions of time?

It’s really up to you. My tip: pick one method and stick to it when you speak so you don’t hesitate…

However you will eventually need to understand all of the various ways of telling the time in order to understand the French when they speak. Bookmark this free lesson and come back to it often!