Let’s have a look at how we can tell the time in French

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Quelle heure est-il?
What time is it?

You can use the question, “Quelle heure est-il?” to ask what time it is right now. If you see somebody wearing a watch, you can ask them, “Excusez-moi, quelle heure est-il?”, meaning, “Excuse me, what time is it?”

There is an alternative that you can use, which is a little more informal:

Avez-vous l’heure? – Do you have the time?

I remember this was one of the first things I was asked by somebody in France when I went to live there a very long time ago.

À quelle heure est...?
(At) what time is...?

You can use the question phrase, “À quelle heure est…?” to ask what time something is. For example, if you want to know what time breakfast is when you go to a hotel, you can ask this:

À quelle heure est le petit-déjeuner? – (At) what time is breakfast?

You literally have to say “at what time…” in French, even though, in English, we often simply just say “what time”

À quelle heure est la réservation? – (At) what time is the reservation?

À ... heures
At ... o'clock

You can use the word “à” in front of any number followed by “heures”, to say that it is at that number o’clock.

à cinq heures – at 5 o’clock
à douze heures – at 12 o’clock
à huit heures – at 8 o’clock

You can use this to say what time things are:

le petit-déjeuner est à sept heures – breakfast is at 7 o’clock
la réservation est à douze heures – the reservation is at 12 o’clock
le train est à trois heures – the train is at 3 o’clock

Il est ... heures
It is ... o'clock

If you want to say what time it is right now, you can use the phrase “il est” followed by a number, followed by “heures”

il est cinq heures – it’s 5 o’clock
il est douze heures – it’s 12 o’clock
il est huit heures – it’s 8 o’clock

You can use this phrase if you’re saying what time it is right now. So, if somebody asks you, “Excusez-moi, quelle heure est-il?”, you can reply with, “il est … heures”, meaning, “it’s … o’clock

une horloge - a clock

Let’s have a look at a picture of a clock with all the time intervals around the outside.

A minimalistic yellow clock with bold black hands, displaying a specific time. The clock’s design is clean and modern, focusing on simplicity to illustrate time-telling in French.

You always start by using “il est…” to say, “it is…”, then a number followed by the word “heures”. You can then add the extras to the end of that.


For example, “it is quarter past five” would be, “il est cinq heures et quart”.


If you want to say what time something is, you say, “à … heures” instead. So, “the reservation is at quarter past five” would be, “la réservation est à cinq heures et quart”

am & pm

There are two ways to be specific about whether times are in the morning or in the evening. In English, we add “am” or “pm” to the time. In French, you can either use the 24-hour clock, or you can use two little phrases.

If you use the 24-hour clock, you use the numbers 1 to 12 for times in the morning, and the numbers 13 to 24 for times in the evening.

01:00 – une heure
02:00 – deux heures
03:00 – trois heures
04:00 – quatre heures
05:00 – cinq heures
06:00 – six heures
07:00 – sept heures
08:00 – huit heures
09:00 – neuf heures
10:00 – dix heures
11:00 – onze heures
12:00 – douze heures
13:00 – treize heures
14:00 – quatorze heures
15:00 – quinze heures
16:00 – seize heures
17:00 – dix-sept heures
18:00 – dix-huit heures
19:00 – dix-neuf heures
20:00 – vingt heures
21:00 – vingt-et-une heures
22:00 – vingt-deux heures
23:00 – vingt-trois heures
24:00 – vingt-quatre heures

Alternatively, you can use these two phrases:

du matin – am (in the morning)
du soir – pm (in the evening)

il est cinq heures du soir – it’s 5pm
il est sept heures du matin – it’s 7am

A vibrant illustration split between day and night in Paris, with the Eiffel Tower as the centerpiece. On the left, a sunny café scene with pink and yellow tones. On the right, a moonlit night café with blue hues. A visual representation of AM and PM distinctions.

midday and midnight

Instead of saying 12pm or 12am, you can also use the words for “midday” and “midnight”

midi – midday
minuit – midnight

la conférence s’interrompra à midi pour le déjeuner
the conference will break at midday for lunch

le déjeuner est servi à midi
lunch is served at midday

il est minuit; il est l’heure d’aller dormir
it’s midnight; it’s time to go to sleep

je prends le train de minuit et demi
I take the half-midnight train

Let's practise

Have a go at saying these sentences in French. Any vocabulary you might need is on the "Vocabulary" tab below.
Sentences
Vocabulary
  1. The reservation is at 7pm
  2. Dinner is at 5:30pm
  3. Lunch is at midday
  4. Breakfast is at 7:15am
  5. It is 2:30pm
  6. It is 5:45pm
  7. The train is at 8pm
  8. The reservation is at 1:20pm
  9. Dinner is at 8:45pm
  10. Breakfast is at 9am

the reservation – la réservation
the dinner – le dîner
the lunch – le déjeuner
the breakfast – le petit-déjeuner
the train – le train

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