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Telling the time in French using '锚tre'

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What鈥檚 the time?鈥

To ask the time in French, say quelle heure est-il? Or, if you want to be less formal, say il 鈥巈st quelle heure? 鈥嶵o give the time, say il est (it is) and then say the time.鈥

Telling the time: o鈥檆lock, quarter past, half past and quarter to

When it鈥檚 quarter past, half past and quarter to, use the following expressions:

FrenchEnglish
et quartquarter past
et demiehalf past
moins le quartquarter to
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  1. Image of a clock face showing 3.00

    Il est trois heures 鈥- It鈥檚 three o鈥檆lock

You can also say quinze (15), trente (30) and quarante-cinq (45) for these times using the 鈥庘24-hour system:鈥

  • Il est trois heures quinze - it鈥檚 3:15鈥.
  • Il est trois heures trente - it鈥檚 3:30鈥.
  • Il est trois heures quarante-cinq - it鈥檚 3:45鈥.

Telling the time: five, ten, twenty and twenty-five past and to

For all other times from five past until half past, you say the hour followed by the number 鈥巓f minutes past the hour:鈥

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  1. Image of a clock face showing 3.05

    Il est trois heures cinq 鈥- It鈥檚 five past three

For the times between twenty-five to and five to, you need to say the next hour minus 鈥巘he number of minutes. For example, if you want to say 鈥榠t鈥檚 five to four鈥, you need to say 鈥庘庘榠t鈥檚 four o鈥檆lock minus five鈥:鈥

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  1. Image of a clock face showing 3.35

    Il est quatre heures moins vingt-鈥巆inq - It鈥檚 twenty-five to four

You can also say 鈥榠t鈥檚 three fifty-five鈥 and so on using the 24-hour system:鈥

  • Il est trois heures trente-cinq - it鈥檚 3:35鈥.
  • Il est trois heures quarante - it鈥檚 3:40.
  • Il est trois heures cinquante - it鈥檚 3:50鈥.
  • Il est trois heures cinquante-cinq - it鈥檚 3:55.

Numbers in fives

  • 鈥5鈥 - cinq
  • 10鈥 - dix
  • 15 - quinze
  • 鈥20鈥 - vingt
  • 鈥25鈥 - vingt-cinq
  • 鈥30鈥 - trente
  • 鈥35 - trente-cinq
  • 鈥鈥40 - quarante
  • 鈥鈥45 - quarante-cinq
  • 鈥鈥50鈥 - cinquante
  • 鈥鈥55鈥 - cinquante-cinq

The 24-hour clock

The 24-hour clock is used a lot in French. With the 24-hour clock, you usually say quinze 鈥庘赌(15), trente (30) and quarante-cinq (45) instead of et quart (quarter past), et demie (half 鈥巔ast) and moins le quart (quarter to):鈥

  • Il est vingt heures trente - it鈥檚 20:30 (8:30 pm)鈥.
  • Il est dix-huit heures quinze - it鈥檚 18:15 (6:15 pm)鈥.
  • Il est quatorze heures quarante-cinq - it鈥檚 14:45 (2:45 pm)鈥.

Saying what time something happens

To say what time something happens, you need to use 脿 (at), and use de 鈥 脿 to say 鈥榝rom 鈥庘庘 until鈥:鈥

  • Je prends le petit d茅jeuner 脿 sept heures et quart - I eat breakfast at 7:15.鈥
  • La pause d茅jeuner est 脿 douze heures et demie - Lunch break is at 12:30.鈥
  • Mon beau-p猫re d卯ne de dix-huit heures 脿 dix-neuf heures - My stepfather eats 鈥巇inner from 18:00-19:00.鈥

Talking about your daily routine

To say what time you do certain things during the day, you can use daily routine phrases 鈥巜ith the time: 鈥

  • Je me l猫ve 脿 sept heures et je prends mon petit d茅jeuner 脿 sept heures et quart - I 鈥巊et up at 7:00 and I have breakfast at 7:15.
  • Je vais au coll猫ge 脿 huit heures et demie et la r茅cr茅 est 脿 onze heures dix - I go to 鈥巗chool at 8:30 and break is at 11:10.
  • Je joue au foot avec mes copains 脿 treize heures quarante - I play football with my 鈥巉riends at 13:40.鈥

For more phrases on daily routine, click on downloadable vocabulary list below:

Daily routine phrases

Quiz

Watch the video and find out how much you know about telling the time in French in this short quiz.

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Game - FestiLingo: French

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