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Telling Time in French
To tell time in French, say il est plus a number plus heure(s): il est une heure (it’s one o’clock), il est deux heures dix (it’s 2:10). To ask, say Quelle heure est-il ? — or, in everyday speech, Il est quelle heure ?
The pattern is simple; the traps are the details English doesn’t have — heures is never dropped, une heure stays singular, and demie changes spelling after midi.
This page covers conversational time, the French answer to AM/PM, and the 24-hour clock used for schedules. The numbers themselves live in the french numbers guide.
In short
- Ask Quelle heure est-il ? — answer with il est + hour: il est deux heures, and singular il est une heure.
- Fractions: et quart (quarter past), et demie (half past — but midi et demi, no e), moins le quart (quarter to).
- Schedules use the 24-hour clock with plain minutes: quatorze heures trente — never et demie.
hourminutes and fractionspart of dayà and vers· hover a highlighted word for its label
Asking the time
The neutral question inverts the verb — this is the version every textbook teaches:
Quelle heure est-il ?
Everyday spoken French usually keeps flat word order (question shapes have their own page: asking questions):
Il est quelle heure ?
And to a stranger in the street, you ask for the time rather than about it:
Excusez-moi, vous avez l’heure ?
However you ask, the answer starts with il est — French uses impersonal il for clock time, never c’est (see c’est vs il est).
Il est + heure(s): the core pattern
State the time as il est + number + heure(s), with the minutes simply added after the hour. Two rules are non-negotiable. First, heures never disappears: English shortens “it’s two o’clock” to “it’s two”, but French always says il est deux heures. Second, one o’clock is singular — heure is a feminine noun (noun gender), and there is only one of it: il est une heure.
Noon and midnight have their own words. Midi and minuit replace douze heures in conversation and take no article and no heures: il est midi, il est minuit.
Il est + number + heure(s) + minutes
Non-negotiables
- Il est never changes: not c’est, not ils sont
- heure(s) is never dropped: il est deux heures, not il est deux
- une heure (singular) for one o’clock; heures everywhere else
- midi and minuit stand alone: il est midi — no article, no heures
It’s one o’clock.
— The only singular hour: une heure, never “une heures”.
It’s ten past two.
— Plain minutes just follow the hour — French has no word for “past”.
Quarter past, half past, quarter to
Beyond plain minutes, conversational French has fraction words: et quart for quarter past and et demie for half past. After the half hour, it counts down to the next hour with moins: huit heures moins dix (ten to eight), cinq heures moins le quart (quarter to five).
The trap is the e on demie. After the feminine heure(s), the word agrees and keeps its e (adjective agreement). Midi and minuit are masculine, so their half hour is et demi — no e.
It’s quarter past nine.
— et quart never takes an article — not “et un quart”.
It’s half past seven.
— After feminine heures, et demie keeps its e.
It’s half past twelve (noon).
— Midi is masculine, so et demi has no e.
It’s quarter to five.
— moins le quart counts down — and this one does take le.
It’s ten to eight.
— moins + minutes works for any countdown to the hour.
Morning or evening? The French AM/PM
French has no AM or PM. In conversation, the 12-hour clock gets a part-of-day tag when context isn’t enough: du matin for the morning, de l’après-midi for the afternoon, du soir for the evening.
It’s six in the morning.
— du matin covers everything from early morning to 11:59.
It’s ten at night.
— du soir plays the role of PM for the evening hours.
The 24-hour clock
Timetables, opening hours, appointments, and announcements use the 24-hour clock, written like 14 h 30 and read as plain hour + minutes. In this style the fraction words disappear: 14 h 30 is quatorze heures trente — never quatorze heures et demie. Part-of-day tags are pointless too: the number already says it.
| On paper | Conversation | Schedule style |
|---|---|---|
| 8 h 15 | huit heures et quart | huit heures quinze |
| 14 h 30 | deux heures et demie | quatorze heures trente |
| 20 h 45 | neuf heures moins le quart | vingt heures quarante-cinq |
At what time? à and vers
To give the time of an event, French uses à — the equivalent of English “at”: le cours commence à trois heures. For an approximate time, use vers (“around”). Wherever English says “at” + a time, the preposition is à — never en or dans. For the calendar side — days, months, dates — see dates and days.
The train leaves at 6:05 pm.
— Written 18 h 05 on the board; à introduces the departure time.
We’re meeting around seven.
— vers makes the time approximate — no “heures-ish” needed.
Common mistakes
✗Il est deux.
✓Il est deux heures.
English drops “o’clock”; French never drops heures. A bare number is not a time.
✗Il est un heure.
✓Il est une heure.
Heure is feminine, so one o’clock takes une — and stays singular, since there is only one hour.
✗Il est trois heures et demi.
✓Il est trois heures et demie.
Demie agrees with the feminine heures. Only midi et demi and minuit et demi drop the e.
✗Le train part à quatorze heures et demie.
✓Le train part à quatorze heures trente.
The 24-hour clock takes plain minutes only; et quart, et demie, and moins belong to conversational 12-hour time.
✗On se voit en trois heures.
✓On se voit à trois heures.
À gives the clock time of an event. En trois heures would mean “within three hours”, not “at three”.
Check yourself
1 / 5It is exactly 1:00. Il est ___.
2 / 5It’s 7:30, in casual conversation. Il est sept heures ___.
3 / 5It’s 12:30 in the afternoon. Il est ___.
4 / 5The board shows 14 h 45. The announcement says: Le train part à ___.
5 / 5You’ll meet at eight, give or take. On se retrouve ___ huit heures.
Frequently asked questions
How do you ask what time it is in French?
Quelle heure est-il ? is the neutral form; spoken French often asks Il est quelle heure ? Both are fine, and Vous avez l’heure ? works with strangers.
What is the difference between et demi and et demie in French time?
Demie takes a final e after the feminine noun heure(s): il est trois heures et demie. Midi and minuit are masculine, so the e disappears: midi et demi, minuit et demi.
Do French speakers use the 24-hour clock?
Yes. Timetables, opening hours, and appointments all use it, and it is normal in speech for anything scheduled: le train part à quatorze heures trente. Casual conversation prefers the 12-hour clock.
How do you say AM and PM in French?
French has no AM/PM abbreviations. Add du matin (morning), de l’après-midi (afternoon), or du soir (evening) after the time: six heures du matin is 6 AM, six heures du soir is 6 PM. The 24-hour clock removes the ambiguity entirely.
Memory tip
English drops “o’clock”; French drops nothing. Whenever English says “it’s two”, force yourself to finish the phrase: il est deux heures. If heures isn’t there, it isn’t a time yet.
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