Telling the Time in French

How to tell the time in French

In French, there are several ways to tell the time depending on the situation.

Examples:
L’avion décollera à dix-huit heures trente-cinq. (formal)The plane will take off at eighteen thirty-five.
Venez chez moi ce soir vers sept heures et demi. (informal)Come to my place this evening around half past seven.

On this page, you’ll find everything you need to ask for and tell the time in French, as well as many exercises at the bottom of the page to practise.

Contents

Asking for the time & saying what time it is

Ask: Il est quelle heure ?

Answer: il est + time

Example:
– Il est quelle heure ?
– Il est trois heures.What time is it? It’s three o’clock.

Watch out!

Always use il est + time to say what time it is. Never use c’est for time.

Example:
Il est deux heures. It’s two o’clock.
not: C’est deux heures.

To say something happens at a certain time, use à.

Example:
Le film commence à huit heures.The film starts at eight o’clock.

In formal situations, we ask Quelle heure est-il ? instead of Il est quelle heure ?

Formal time vs informal time

There are two main ways to say the time in French: formal and informal.

Formal Informal
18 h 00 dix-huit heures six heures
18 h 05 dix-huit heures cinq six heures cinq
18 h 15 dix-huit heures quinze six heures et quart
18 h 20 dix-huit heures vingt six heures vingt
18 h 30 dix-huit heures trente six heures et demie
18 h 35 dix-huit heures trente-cinq sept heures moins vingt-cinq
18 h 40 dix-huit heures quarante sept heures moins vingt
18 h 45 dix-huit heures quarante-cinq sept heures moins le quart
18 h 50 dix-huit heures cinquante sept heures moins dix

Formal time

French officially uses the 24-hour clock in formal contexts – it’s used for train times, work schedules and official announcements. We say the hour first followed by the minutes.

Example:
9 h 43 – neuf heures quarante-trois (literally: “nine hours forty-three”)

Informal time

In informal contexts, French uses the 12-hour clock. In everyday conversations, we usually say the hour first, then add the minutes.

Example:
18 h 25 – six heures vingt-cinq (literally: “six hours twenty five”)

However, with the minutes 35, 40, 45, 50 and 55 we say the upcoming hour first, followed by the minutes remaining until that time. This is similar to the English “minutes to”.

Example:
9 h 50 – dix heures moins dixten to ten

Et is used before quart (quarter past) and demie (half past) only, and not with any other minutes:

Example:
18 h 15 – six heures et quartquarter past six
18 h 30 – six heures et demiehalf past six
but: 18 h 20 – six heures vingt

Important

It’s not possible to combine the formal and informal ways of telling the time.

Example:
Dix-huit heures et demie.
this does not exist in French

There are only two options:

either:
dix-huit heures trente (formal)
or:
six heures et demie (informal)

The French clock

Key things to remember about French time

Heure is (almost always) plural

When telling the time in French, the word heures is always plural. The only exception to this is if we use the number une to refer to 1 o’clock: here, the word heure remains in the singular.

Examples:
1 h 20 – une heure vingt
but: 13 h 20 – treize heures vingt

Midi and minuit

12 h 00 is written and spoken as douze heures, midi or minuit depending on the context. Note that midi and minuit do not take heure(s).

Examples:
Le magasin ferme à midi.The shop closes at noon.
Je suis rentré à minuit.I got home at midnight.

Et demie or et demi?

The word demi agrees in gender with the noun it follows:

  • After heure(s) (feminine) → et demie

    Example:
    Il est six heures et demie.It’s half past six.

  • After midi or minuit (masculine) → et demi

    Examples:
    Il est midi et demi.It’s half past noon.
    Il est minuit et demi.It’s half past midnight.