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You have learned to talk about the activities you do during each season, the classes you take or activities you do during the week, and the birthdays of friends and family. If you want to invite other people to join you for these events, what is the next skill you need to have in French?
Telling time! How would you plan a birthday party or a rendez-vous with your friends at the café if you can’t tell time?
The video below will introduce you to some of the basic phrases used in French to talk about the time.
Bonjour!
Another useful skill to learn using French number vocabulary is telling time.
French speakers use the question Quelle heure est-il? to ask What time is it?
Quelle heure est-il?
Il est sept heures.
It is seven o’clock.
Quelle heure est-il?
Il est huit heures.
It is eight o’clock.
L’école commence à huit heures.
School starts at eight o’clock.
Did you notice how to say what the time is in French?
You use the expression il est (it is) followed by a number and the word heures (hours).
For example, this clock says:
Il est neuf heures.
It is nine o’clock.
What if the time is not exactly on the hour? Add the number of minutes just after the word heures.
Quelle heure est-il?
Il est douze heures vingt.
It is twelve-twenty, or twenty past twelve.
What time is shown on this clock?
Il est quatre heure trente.
It is four-thirty.
Just like in English, in French there are multiple ways to refer to time. For example, if it is 9:15, you can also say that it is a quarter past nine.
Il est neuf heures quinze.
It is nine-fifteen.
Il est neuf heures et quart.
It is quarter past nine.
In English, 1:45 is also a quarter to 2.
What does that look like in French?
Il est une heure quarante-cinq.
It is one forty-five.
Il est deux heures moins le quart.
It is a quarter to two.
In English, we can say half past eleven instead of eleven thirty.
French speakers use the word demie for half.
Il est onze heure trente. It is eleven thirty.
Il est onze heures et demie.
It is half past eleven.
In French, you use the preposition à to ask what time events occur.
À quelle heure est le cours d’algèbre?
What time is algebra class?
Le cours d’algèbre est à huit heures treize.
Algebra class is at eight-thirteen.
I repeat:
Le cours d’alg`bre est à huit heures treize.
You can combine time expressions with any high-frequency vocabulary you have
already learned.
À quelle heure vas-tu au restaurant?
What time do you go to the restaurant?
À quelle heure est-ce qu’elle a un match de foot?
What time does she have a soccer game?
Just think of all the useful situations where being able to talk about time will help you communicate in French! Meeting friends at a restaurant? Inviting people to a party? Playing soccer with some friends? Buying a plane or train ticket? The list goes on. By the end of this lesson, you will understand the basics of asking and telling time in French and will use this skill to enhance the French you have already learned in this module.
C’est l’heure de commencer! Au revoir
It’s time to get started! Bye
À quelle heure est ton cours de français? At what time is your French class? Do you work on French every day at the same time? Or does it change? Continue to the rest of the lesson to practice the time expressions you learned in the video and learn how to ask and say what time your daily classes and activities are in French.
Question
How do you say It is two o’clock in French?
Il est deux heures.
