Quelle heure est-il\u00a0?<\/span>What time is it?<\/small><\/p>\n\n Il est une heure.<\/span>It’s one o’clock.<\/small><\/p>\n\n Il est cinq heures.<\/span>It’s five o’clock.<\/small><\/p>\n\n Informally, you will also hear Il est quelle heure\u00a0?<\/span> and T’as l’heure\u00a0?<\/span> (“Have you got the time?”).<\/p>\n\n As in British English, minutes are added up to half past and taken away after it. But the hour comes first, and the minutes follow the word heures<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n Note that there is no et<\/span> before ordinary minutes: trois heures dix<\/span>, not “trois heures et dix”. Et<\/span> only appears with quart<\/span> and demie<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n The trap for British pupils is the second half of the clock: trois heures moins le quart<\/span> is 2:45, because moins<\/span> counts back from the hour that is named. And “half three” must become trois heures et demie<\/span>; French has no equivalent shortcut.<\/p>\n\n In everyday speech, especially with digital clocks, minutes are often read as numbers: trois heures quinze<\/span>, trois heures trente<\/span>, trois heures quarante-cinq<\/span>. In Belgium and in parts of France and Quebec, you will also hear moins quart<\/span> without the article.<\/p>\n\n After heure<\/span>, which is feminine, write et demie<\/span>: une heure et demie<\/span>. After midi<\/span> and minuit<\/span>, which are masculine, write et demi<\/span>: midi et demi<\/span>, minuit et demi<\/span>. The pronunciation is the same.<\/p>\n\n Because heure<\/span> starts with a silent h, the number before it links to it. This is where French numbers change sound, and pupils need to hear it.<\/p>\n\n “UR” here is the vowel of British “fur” followed by a light French r. The u of une<\/span> is the French u: say “ee” with your lips rounded as if for “oo”. The surprising one is neuf heures<\/span>, where the f becomes a v.<\/p>\n\n In speech, French adds the part of the day: du matin<\/span> (in the morning, and also for the small hours: deux heures du matin<\/span>), de l’apr\u00e8s-midi<\/span> (in the afternoon), du soir<\/span> (in the evening).<\/p>\n\n Je me l\u00e8ve \u00e0 sept heures du matin.<\/span>I get up at seven in the morning.<\/small><\/p>\n\n Le film commence \u00e0 huit heures du soir.<\/span>The film starts at eight in the evening.<\/small><\/p>\n\n The 24-hour clock is used far more in France than in the UK: not only on timetables and official notices, but in ordinary conversation too. The minutes are then read as numbers.<\/p>\n\n Le train part \u00e0 dix-sept heures quarante-cinq.<\/span>The train leaves at 17:45.<\/small><\/p>\n\n In writing, French uses h: 17 h 45, often also 17h45, and 17 h on the hour. The colon (17:45) is common on screens but is not the standard written form.<\/p>\n\n \u00c0 quelle heure commence le cours\u00a0?<\/span>What time does the lesson start?<\/small><\/p>\n\n \u00c0 neuf heures et quart.<\/span>At quarter past nine.<\/small><\/p>\n\n “Around” is vers<\/span>: vers six heures<\/span>. “On the dot” is pile<\/span>: \u00e0 six heures pile<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n Telling the time needs little and often. A one-minute routine at the start of the lesson does the job.<\/p>\n\n A world map makes the routine richer: point at Paris, Montreal, Dakar or Noum\u00e9a, and the class says the time there, discovering the French-speaking world as it goes.<\/p>\n\n Il est trois heures: et quart, et demie, moins le quart, midi and minuit, the liaisons and the 24-hour clock, with a routine for the classroom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"menu_order":9,"template":"","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Telling the Time in French: Rules and Examples | VocaDial","_seopress_titles_desc":"How to tell the time in French: il est une heure, et quart, et demie, moins le quart, midi and minuit, liaisons and the 24-hour clock. For teachers.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"_vd_topic":"heure","_vd_target":"fr","_vd_module":"hora","_vd_level":"A1\u2013A2","_vd_minutes":"7","_vd_card_word":"trois heures et demie","_vd_answer":"To tell the time in French, say il est<\/span> + the hour + heure(s)<\/span>: il est une heure<\/span>, il est trois heures<\/span>. Add minutes after the hour up to half past (trois heures et quart, trois heures et demie<\/span>) and use moins<\/span> after that: quatre heures moins le quart<\/span> (3:45). The word heures<\/span> is never left out.","_vd_faq":"[{\"q\":\"How do you ask the time in French?\",\"a\":\"Quelle heure est-il\u00a0?<\\\/span> Informally: Il est quelle heure\u00a0?<\\\/span> or T'as l'heure\u00a0?<\\\/span>\"},{\"q\":\"How do you say half past in French?\",\"a\":\"With et demie<\\\/span> after the hour: Il est deux heures et demie<\\\/span> (2:30). After midi<\\\/span> and minuit<\\\/span>, write et demi<\\\/span>.\"},{\"q\":\"How do you say quarter to in French?\",\"a\":\"With moins le quart<\\\/span>, counting back from the next hour: Il est cinq heures moins le quart<\\\/span> is 4:45.\"},{\"q\":\"Do French people use the 24-hour clock?\",\"a\":\"Yes, much more than in the UK, both in writing (17 h 45) and in everyday conversation: dix-sept heures quarante-cinq<\\\/span>.\"},{\"q\":\"Why is it il est and not c'est for the time?\",\"a\":\"Telling the time uses the impersonal construction il est<\\\/span>, just as English uses an impersonal \\\"it is\\\". C'est<\\\/span> is not used to give the time.\"}]","_vd_key":"heure-fr","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-52","vd_ressource","type-vd_ressource","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vocadial.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vd_ressource\/52","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vocadial.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vd_ressource"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vocadial.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/vd_ressource"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vocadial.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vd_ressource\/52\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vocadial.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The minutes: et, moins and the rest<\/h2>\n\n
French<\/th> Time<\/th> Word for word<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Il est trois heures<\/td> 3:00<\/td> it is three hours<\/td><\/tr> trois heures cinq<\/td> 3:05<\/td> three hours five<\/td><\/tr> trois heures dix<\/td> 3:10<\/td> three hours ten<\/td><\/tr> trois heures et quart<\/td> 3:15<\/td> three hours and quarter<\/td><\/tr> trois heures vingt<\/td> 3:20<\/td> three hours twenty<\/td><\/tr> trois heures vingt-cinq<\/td> 3:25<\/td> three hours twenty-five<\/td><\/tr> trois heures et demie<\/td> 3:30<\/td> three hours and a half<\/td><\/tr> quatre heures moins vingt-cinq<\/td> 3:35<\/td> four hours minus twenty-five<\/td><\/tr> quatre heures moins vingt<\/td> 3:40<\/td> four hours minus twenty<\/td><\/tr> quatre heures moins le quart<\/td> 3:45<\/td> four hours minus the quarter<\/td><\/tr> quatre heures moins dix<\/td> 3:50<\/td> four hours minus ten<\/td><\/tr> quatre heures moins cinq<\/td> 3:55<\/td> four hours minus five<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n Spelling: demie or demi?<\/h3>\n\n
Liaisons with heures<\/h2>\n\n
French<\/th> Say it like<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> une heure<\/td> oo-NUR<\/td><\/tr> deux heures<\/td> duh-ZUR<\/td><\/tr> trois heures<\/td> trwah-ZUR<\/td><\/tr> cinq heures<\/td> sa(n)-KUR<\/td><\/tr> six heures<\/td> see-ZUR<\/td><\/tr> sept heures<\/td> seh-TUR<\/td><\/tr> huit heures<\/td> wee-TUR<\/td><\/tr> neuf heures<\/td> nuh-VUR<\/td><\/tr> dix heures<\/td> dee-ZUR<\/td><\/tr> onze heures<\/td> o(n)-ZUR<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n Morning, afternoon and evening<\/h2>\n\n
The 24-hour clock<\/h2>\n\n
At what time?<\/h3>\n\n
Typical mistakes of English-speaking learners<\/h2>\n\n
In class: a time routine<\/h2>\n\n
Adapting to your class<\/h3>\n\n