Telling Time
How to tell and ask the time in French: hours, half past, quarter
The classic slip when telling time: saying il est un heure — but heure is feminine, so it is always une heure (and only 1 o'clock uses une; every other full hour uses the plural heures).
💡 Grab the intuition: French tells time by first saying "so-many heure(s)," then adding minutes going up (et quart / et demie) or subtracting them going down (moins le quart / moins dix). Keep two contrasts straight and you won't slip — heure is feminine → une heure, une heure et demie (with an e); midi / minuit are masculine → midi et demi, minuit et demi (no e).
Asking the time
- Quelle heure est-il ? — What time is it? (formal)
- Il est quelle heure ? — What time is it? (colloquial)
Full hours
| French | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Il est une heure. | 1 o'clock. (the only one with une) |
| Il est deux heures. | 2 o'clock. |
| Il est midi. | 12 noon. |
| Il est minuit. | 12 midnight. |
Note: midi and minuit do not add heures.
Half past and quarters
| French | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Il est trois heures et quart. | 3:15 |
| Il est trois heures et demie. | 3:30 |
| Il est quatre heures moins le quart. | 3:45 |
Expressing minutes
| Time | French | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| 3:10 | trois heures dix | add the minutes directly |
| 3:20 | trois heures vingt | add the minutes directly |
| 3:35 | quatre heures moins vingt-cinq | next hour − minutes left |
| 3:40 | quatre heures moins vingt | next hour − 20 |
| 3:50 | quatre heures moins dix | next hour − 10 |
Rule: minutes 1-30 use addition (heures + minutes); minutes 31-59 use subtraction (next hour + moins + what's left).
The 24-hour clock
Everyday speech uses the 12-hour clock, but formal settings (train stations, airports, broadcasts) use the 24-hour clock:
- 13h00 = treize heures
- 15h30 = quinze heures trente
- 20h45 = vingt heures quarante-cinq
Useful time vocabulary
| French | Meaning |
|---|---|
| du matin | in the morning |
| de l'après-midi | in the afternoon |
| du soir | in the evening |
| tôt | early |
| tard | late |
| à l'heure | on time |
| en retard | late |
| en avance | early |
⚠️ The trickiest point: getting une / demi(e) / moins le quart right together
What really separates scores isn't the minute count but these small agreements. demi agrees in gender with the noun before it: with the feminine heure → demie (with an e), with the masculine midi/minuit → demi (no e).
| Case | Correct | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| 1:00 | il est une heure | |
| 12:30 | midi et demi | |
| 0:30 | minuit et demi | |
| 1:30 | une heure et demie | |
| 2:15 / 1:45 | et quart / moins le quart | |
| 14:30 (official 24-hour) | quatorze heures trente |
🔑 heure feminine → une, demie with an e; midi/minuit masculine → demi without an e; official times are read as figures (quatorze heures trente), not et demie.