Telling the time in French using 'être'
What’s the time?
To ask the time in French, say quelle heure est-il? Or, if you want to be less formal, say il est quelle heure? To give the time, say il est (it is) and then say the time.
Telling the time: o’clock, quarter past, half past and quarter to
When it’s quarter past, half past and quarter to, use the following expressions:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| et quart | quarter past |
| et demie | half past |
| moins le quart | quarter to |
You can also say quinze (15), trente (30) and quarante-cinq (45) for these times using the 24-hour system:
- Il est trois heures quinze - it’s 3:15.
- Il est trois heures trente - it’s 3:30.
- Il est trois heures quarante-cinq - it’s 3:45.
Telling the time: five, ten, twenty and twenty-five past and to
For all other times from five past until half past, you say the hour followed by the number of minutes past the hour:
For the times between twenty-five to and five to, you need to say the next hour minus the number of minutes. For example, if you want to say ‘it’s five to four’, you need to say ‘it’s four o’clock minus five’:
You can also say ‘it’s three fifty-five’ and so on using the 24-hour system:
- Il est trois heures trente-cinq - it’s 3:35.
- Il est trois heures quarante - it’s 3:40.
- Il est trois heures cinquante - it’s 3:50.
- Il est trois heures cinquante-cinq - it’s 3:55.
Numbers in fives
- 5 - cinq
- 10 - dix
- 15 - quinze
- 20 - vingt
- 25 - vingt-cinq
- 30 - trente
- 35 - trente-cinq
- 40 - quarante
- 45 - quarante-cinq
- 50 - cinquante
- 55 - cinquante-cinq
The 24-hour clock
The 24-hour clock is used a lot in French. With the 24-hour clock, you usually say quinze (15), trente (30) and quarante-cinq (45) instead of et quart (quarter past), et demie (half past) and moins le quart (quarter to):
- Il est vingt heures trente - it’s 20:30 (8:30 pm).
- Il est dix-huit heures quinze - it’s 18:15 (6:15 pm).
- Il est quatorze heures quarante-cinq - it’s 14:45 (2:45 pm).
Saying what time something happens
To say what time something happens, you need to use à (at), and use de … à to say ‘from … until’:
- Je prends le petit déjeuner à sept heures et quart - I eat breakfast at 7:15.
- La pause déjeuner est à douze heures et demie - Lunch break is at 12:30.
- Mon beau-père dîne de dix-huit heures à dix-neuf heures - My stepfather eats dinner from 18:00-19:00.
Talking about your daily routine
To say what time you do certain things during the day, you can use daily routine phrases with the time:
- Je me lève à sept heures et je prends mon petit déjeuner à sept heures et quart - I get up at 7:00 and I have breakfast at 7:15.
- Je vais au collège à huit heures et demie et la récré est à onze heures dix - I go to school at 8:30 and break is at 11:10.
- Je joue au foot avec mes copains à treize heures quarante - I play football with my friends at 13:40.
For more phrases on daily routine, click on downloadable vocabulary list below:
Quiz
Watch the video and find out how much you know about telling the time in French in this short quiz.
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