Telling time

Telling time

Structure 2B.2

You use the verb être with numbers to tell time.

There are two ways to ask what time it is:

Quelle heure est-il? What time is it?

Quelle heure avez-vous/as-tu? What time do you have?

To tell time on the hour, use a number + heures. Use une heure for one o'clock.

6.00 a.m = Il est six heures.

1.00 a.m = Il est une heure.

To tell the time form the hour to the half-hour, add the number of minutes past the hour.

• To say it is fifteen minutes past the hour, use et quart.

• To say it is thirty minutes past the hour, use et demie.

To tell the time form the half hour to the hour, use moins (minus) and substract the number of minutes or the portion of an hour from the next hour.

To say at what time something happens, use the preposition à

Le cours commence à neuf heures moins vingt.

The class starts at 8:40.

Nous avons un examen à une heure.

We have an exam at one o'clock.

Multiple Choice

Il est cinq heures vingt.

• 5:15

• 5:20

• 4:40

Multiple Choice

Il est six heures moins dix.

• 5:50

• 6:10

• 7:50

Multiple Choice

Il est une heure moins le quart.

• 12:15

• 1:15

• 12:45

Multiple Choice

Il est neuf heures et quart.

• 10:45

• 9:15

• 8:45

Multiple Choice

Le cours commence à huit heures et demie.

• 8:30

• 8:15

• 8:45

Multiple Choice

Complete with the most logical time expression:

Il est trois heures ________

• de l'après-midi

• pile

• du soir

Multiple Choice

Complete with the most logical time expression:

Il est __________. C'est l'heure de manger.

• midi

• minuit

• matin

Multiple Choice

Complete with the most logical time expression:

__________ est le cours de français?

• L'heure

• Quelle heure

• Á quelle heure

Multiple Choice

Complete with the most logical time expression:

Anne arrive toujours _________ au cours.

• vers

• en retard

• du soir

Multiple Choice

Complete with the most logical time expression:

Il est sept heures _______

• pile

• de l'après-midi

• tôt

24-hour clock

In French, the 24-hour time is preferred over the 12-hour format of the US. Official time for departures, movie times, store hours ... are expressed this way and it is a popular way to express time in every day life.

Le train arrive à dix-sept heures six.

the train arrives at 5.06 p.m

Le film est à vingt-deux heures trente sept.

The film is at 10.37 p.m

Different writing

When writing the time in French using numbers, the hour and minutes are separated by the letter h, which stands for heure(s), while in English a colon is used.

15h25 = 3:25 p.m

11h10 = 11:10 a.m

17h15 = 5:15 p.m

21h45 = 9:45 p.m

Multiple Choice

Il est dix-sept heures quinze.

• 5:15 p.m

• 7:15 p.m

• 6:15 p.m

• 4:15 p.m

Multiple Choice

Il est douze heures cinquante.

• 12:50 p.m

• 2:50 p.m

• 2:50 a.m

• 12:50 a.m

Multiple Choice

Il est une heure dix.

• 1:10 p.m

• 11:10 p.m

• 1:10 a.m

• 11:10 a.m

Multiple Choice

Il est quatorze heures trente.

• 4:30 p.m

• 2:30 a.m

• 2:30 p.m

• 4:30 a.m

Multiple Choice

21h45

• 8:45 p.m

• 9:45 p.m

• 8:45 a.m

• 9:45 a.m