Telling Time

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Telling Time - Dire l'heure

Let’s review first

• Quelle heure est-il ? What time is it? Il est une heure. It’s one o’clock.
• Il est quelle heure ? What time is it? Il est deux heures. It’s two o’clock.
• Quelle heure est-il ? What time is it? Il est trois heures. It’s three o’clock.
• Il est quelle heure ? What time is it? Il est quatre heures. It’s four o’clock.
• À quelle heure passe le train ? At what time does the train come?
• Il passe à cinq heures. It comes at 5 o’clock.

O’clock

O’clock is pretty easy. First, make sure you remember your numbers. Go
back to Numbers from 0 to 100 in the Vocabulary-sheets page.
To say o’clock, say the number and add heure/s.

• Cinq heures. Five o’clock.

Half hour

There are two ways to say the half hour.

• Quelle heure est-il ? What time is it?
• Il est cinq heures et demie. It’s five thirty.
• Il est quelle heure ? What time is it?
• Il est six heures trente. It’s six thirty.
• À quelle heure passe le bus ? At what time does the bus come?
• Il passe à sept heures et demie. It comes at 7:30.

Quarter of an hour

Also two ways to say the quarter past.

• Quelle heure est-il ? What time is it?
• Il est sept heures et quart. It’s seven fifteen.
• Il est quelle heure ? What time is it?
• Il est huit heures quinze. It’s eight fifteen.
• À quelle heure passe le métro ? At what time does the metro come?
• Il passe à neuf heures et quart. It comes at 9:15.

Quarter to an hour

Again, two ways to say the quarter to.

• Quelle heure est-il ? What time is it?
• Il est neuf heures moins le quart. It’s eight forty-five.
• Il est quelle heure ? What time is it?
• Il est huit heures quarante-cinq. It’s eight forty-five.
• À quelle heure passe le bus ? At what time does the bus come?
• Il passe à sept heures moins le quart. It comes at 6:45.

More on telling time

To say the time in between the hour, half hour and so on, just say the

number of minutes.

• Quelle heure est-il ? What time is it?
• Il est dix heures dix-sept. It’s ten seventeen.
• Il est quelle heure ? What time is it?
• Il est onze heures cinquante-trois. It’s eleven fifty-three.
• À quelle heure tu prends le bus ? At what time do you take the bus?
• Je prends le bus à dix heures huit. I’m taking the 10:08 bus.
• Noon is Midi. Il est midi.
• Midnight in Minuit. Il est minuit.

Morning, afternoon and evening

• The morning is le matin.
• The afternoon is l’après-midi.
• The evening is le soir.

A.M. and P.M.

Remember that the French often use military time, especially for train and

plane schedules.

It’s easy to do: just add 12 to your hour: 3 pm is 3+12=15 heures.

• 8pm is 8+12=20 heures.

Or, you can say:

• Il est 3 heures du matin. It’s 3 a.m., three o’clock in the morning.
• Il est 3 heures de l’après-midi. It’s 3 p.m., three o’clock in the afternoon.
• Il est 8 heures du soir. It’s 8 p.m., eight o’clock in the evening.

 

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