How to tell the time

Il part à quelle heure ?
À onze heures cinquante
À neuf heures et demie

• To ask 'What time is it?' you say Il est quelle heure ? or Quelle heure est-il ?



• To answer you say Il est..., followed by the number of hours - Il est huit heures, 'It's eight o'clock'.



• To indicate minutes past the hour, you just add the minutes after the hour - Il est huit heures vingt, It's twenty past eight.



• For minutes to the hour, you use moins, literally 'less' or 'minus' - Il est huit heures moins vingt, It's twenty to eight.



• To ask when something happens, you add à quelle heure? ...'at what time?' after the verb, e.g. Le train part à quelle heure ? literally 'The train leaves at what time?'



• The twenty-four hour clock is also used, just as in English, e.g. Il part à quatorze heures, 'He's leaving at 2pm'.

Can you tell the time? Listen and type in the times you hear, in numbers.