Telling the time in French

Ask Quelle heure est-il ? and the answer always starts with Il est … heures.

Quarters and halves

  • Il est six heures et demie. — 6:30
  • Il est dix heures et quart. — 10:15
  • Il est cinq heures moins le quart. — 4:45 (five hours minus the quarter)

Note that French always says heures, even where English drops "o'clock".

The 24-hour clock

Timetables, tickets and opening hours use the 24-hour clock: Le train part à 18 h. In conversation you'll also hear du matin (in the morning) and du soir (in the evening) after the hour.

jour or journée?

Both mean "day". journée is the day as a stretch of time: Bonne journée ! — Have a nice day!

Practise with flashcards

Every word on this page, with its pronunciation and an example sentence, is in the deck below. Add it to your decks and Echoes will bring each card back just before you would forget it.

Telling the Time in French (A1)

a121 words

21 words and phrases for telling the time and talking about when.

  • Quelle heure est-il ? · What time is it?
  • Il est trois heures. · It's three o'clock.
  • et demie · half past
  • et quart · quarter past
  • moins le quart · quarter to
  • du matin · in the morning (after a time), a.m.
Show all words
WordMeaningExample
Quelle heure est-il ?/kɛl œʁ ɛ til/What time is it?Excusez-moi, quelle heure est-il ?Excuse me, what time is it?
Il est trois heures./il ɛ tʁwa zœʁ/It's three o'clock.Il est trois heures. On y va.It's three o'clock. Let's go.
et demie/e dəmi/half pastIl est six heures et demie.It's half past six.
et quart/e kaʁ/quarter pastIl est dix heures et quart.It's quarter past ten.
moins le quart/mwɛ̃ lə kaʁ/quarter toIl est cinq heures moins le quart.It's quarter to five.
du matin/dy matɛ̃/in the morning (after a time), a.m.Le train part à sept heures du matin.The train leaves at 7 a.m.
du soir/dy swaʁ/in the evening (after a time), p.m.Le magasin ferme à neuf heures du soir.The shop closes at 9 p.m.
la minute/minyt/minuteAttends une minute !Wait a minute!
l'heure (f.)/œʁ/hour; o'clockLe film dure deux heures.The movie is two hours long.
le jour, la journée/ʒuʁ, ʒuʁne/dayBonne journée !Have a nice day!
la semaine/səmɛn/weekÀ la semaine prochaine.See you next week.
le mois/mwa/monthJe suis ici pour un mois.I'm here for one month.
l'an (m.), l'année (f.)/ɑ̃, ane/yearBonne année !Happy New Year!
aujourd'hui/oʒuʁdɥi/todayQu'est-ce que tu fais aujourd'hui ?What are you doing today?
demain/dəmɛ̃/tomorrowÀ demain !See you tomorrow!
hier/jɛʁ/yesterdayHier, j'étais à la maison.I was at home yesterday.
maintenant/mɛ̃tnɑ̃/nowJe suis occupé maintenant.I'm busy now.
le matin/matɛ̃/morningJe cours le matin.I run in the morning.
l'après-midi (m.)/apʁɛ midi/afternoonJe suis libre cet après-midi.I'm free this afternoon.
le soir/swaʁ/eveningNous regardons la télé le soir.We watch TV in the evening.
la nuit/nɥi/nightJe n'arrive pas à dormir la nuit.I can't sleep at night.