Telling the Time in French
How to tell the time in French
In French, there are several ways to indicate the time depending on the context.
- Beispiel:
- 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.
In this article, you will find everything you need to read and tell the time in French, as well as many exercises at the bottom of the page to practise.
Contents
Telling the time according to the context
There are two ways to say the time in French, one is formal and one is 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 |
In general, we say the hour first followed by the minutes.
- Example:
- 9 h 43 – neuf heures quarante-trois
However, with the minutes 35, 40, 45, 50 and 55 we often 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
The French clock
Things to bear in mind when telling the time in French
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.
- Example:
- 1 h 20 – une heure vingt
- but: 13 h 20 – treize heures vingt
Remember! 12 h 00 is written and spoken as douze heures, midimidday or minuitmidnight depending on the context.
Info
It is 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 possible options:
- either:
- dix-huit heures trente
- or:
- six heures et demie
