It's time for a French lesson. Let's synchronize our watches and get started!
Quelle heure est-il? What time is it?
À quelle heure (est) = At what time (is)
C'est l'heure = It's time
Il est une heure. (1h00)
Il est deux heures. (2h00)
Il est trois heures. (3h00)
Il est quatre heures. (4h00)
Il est cinq heures. (5h00)
Il est six heures. (6h00)
Il est sept heures. (7h00)
Il est huit heures. (8h00)
Il est neuf heures. (9h00)
Il est dix heures. (10h00)
Il est onze heures. (11h00)
Il est midi. (12h00) = noon
Il est minuit. (24h00) = midnight
To indicate how many minutes have passed the hour, simply state the time followed by the number of minutes. For example--
Il est trois heures dix. (3h10)
Il est six heures vingt-cinq. (6h25)
Il est sept heures cinquante-cinq. (7h55)
For 15 minutes past the hour, you can say "quinze" or "ET QUART."
Il est huit heures quinze = Il est huit heures et quart = 8h15
Il est huit heures quinze = Il est huit heures et quart = 8h15
For 30 minutes past the hour, you can say "trente" or "ET DEMIE"
Il est six heures trente = Il est six heures et demie = 6h30
Il est six heures trente = Il est six heures et demie = 6h30
There is often more than one way to express a time. You can say "It's two forty" or "It's twenty to three." In French, you do not say "to" or "til". Instead, you SUBSTRACT the number of minutes before the hour. The word "minus" is "MOINS" in French.
Il est huit heures quarante = Il est neuf heures moins vingt = 8h40
Il est deux heures cinquante-cinq = Il est trois heures moins cinq = 2h55
If you are subtracting 15 minutes (a quarter) say, MOINS LE QUART.
Il est trois heures quarante-cinq = Il est quatre heures moins le quart = 3h45
Other useful time expressions:
tôt = early
tard = late
du matin = in the morning
de l'après-midi = in the afternoon
du soir = in the evening
Instead of using a.m. and p.m. most French schedules are based on the 24-hour clock. You will see this on train schedules, school schedules, and TV guides. If you see an official or military time over 12, simply subtract 12 to find the time in p.m.
Play around on this fun ONLINE TIME GAME for kids from the Hello-World website.
Now that you are a telling-time-in-French-expert, try your luck on this TIME QUIZ from About.com.
Photo Credit: by jayofboy at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1064321
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