Understanding find out how to inform the time in French is essential. You’ll use it to schedule conferences, ask when an appointment is, or just plan your day.
This text covers all you might want to know as a newbie – find out how to ask what time it’s, find out how to inform the time, and helpful tricks to make your French clearer. The one prior data you want is French numbers, as they’ll aid you inform what time it’s. We’ve bought you coated for all the opposite vocabulary and ideas!
Methods to ask what time is it in French
First issues first: how do we are saying “what time is it” in French?
Two of the most typical phrases are: Quelle heure est-il? and Il est quelle heure?
You should utilize them interchangeably. Heure means “time” or “hour,” quelle means “what,” and il est means “it’s.”
Methods to inform the time in French
Now you understand how to ask the query, it’s time to reply it! There are two methods of telling the time in French: the primary one is to make use of the 12-hour clock. So, for each 8:00 and 20:00, you’d say il est huit heures (it’s eight o’clock).
The opposite strategy to inform time is through the use of the 24-hour clock. On this case, 8:00 can be il est huit heures (it’s eight o’clock) and 20:00 can be il est vingt heures (it’s twenty o’clock).
Each methods of telling time are fairly frequent in French. Irrespective of which you’re utilizing, you’ll have to say il est, adopted by the point.
Let’s begin by protecting the instances within the 12-hour clock:
- 01:00: Il est une heure
- 02:00: Il est deux heures
- 03:00: Il est trois heures
- 04:00: Il est quatre heures
- 05:00: Il est cinq heures
- 06:00: Il est six heures
- 07:00: Il est sept heures
- 08:00: Il est huit heures
- 09:00: Il est neuf heures
- 10:00: Il est dix heures
- 11:00: Il est onze heures
- 12:00: Il est douze heures / il est midi (Midi means mid-day)
Within the 24-hour clock, you’d proceed to make use of the phrase “il est.” Right here’s how you’d categorical the instances after 12:00, utilizing the 24-hour clock:
- 13:00: Il est treize heures
- 14:00: Il est quatorze heures
- 15:00: Il est quinze heures
- 16:00: Il est seize heures
- 17:00: Il est dix-sept heures
- 18:00: Il est dix-huit heures
- 19:00: Il est dix-neuf heures
- 20:00: Il est vingt heures
- 21:00: Il est vingt-et-une heures
- 22:00: Il est vingt-deux heures
- 23:00: Il est vingt-trois heures
- 00:00: Il est zéro heure / il est minuit (Minuit means midnight, and it’s extra frequent than saying zéro heure)
Methods to say half and quarter in French
Listed here are two helpful phrases: demie (half) and quart (quarter). You’ll want these to say “half previous,” “quarter previous,” or “quarter to.” It sounds extra pure to make use of this with the 12-hour clock.
Listed here are some examples earlier than we dive deeper:
- 3:30 – Il est trois heures et demie (It’s half previous three)
- 3:15 – Il est trois heures et quart (It’s quarter previous three)
- 3:45 – Il est quatre heures moins le quart (It’s quarter to 4)
Let’s begin with half previous. In French, we are saying et (and) as a substitute of previous. So 3:30 is Il est trois heures et demie (it’s half previous three), which instantly interprets to “It’s three and a half.” For those who’re utilizing the 24-hour clock, you’d say trente (thirty) as a substitute of demie (half). So right here, it might be Il est trois heures trente, which instantly interprets to “three thirty” in English.
Quarter previous is et quart. This might make 3:15 Il est trois heures et quart (it’s quarter previous three). Within the 24-hour clock, it’s trois heures quinze (fifteen fifteen).
For quarter to, there’s one other phrase you might want to know: Moins, which accurately means “much less.” On this case, you’ll hear it as moins le quart, which suggests “quarter to.” 3:45 can be Il est quatre heures moins le quart (It’s quarter to 5). With the 24-hour clock, you possibly can say trois heures quarante-cinq (three forty-five).
The one trick is to maintain the 12-hour and the 24-hour time codecs separate. With the 12-hour format, you should use demie (half), et quart (quarter previous), and moins le quart (quarter to). For those who’re utilizing the 24-hour format, you might want to stick to the numbers quinze (fifteen), trente (thirty), and forty-five (quarante-cinq) to precise quarters and halves.
The instances in between
What will we do if we wish to say “twenty previous,” “ten to,” or a selected minute like these? It’s fairly simple in the event you’re snug with French numbers.
For the minutes which can be “previous” an hour, you simply add the quantity. For the minutes which can be “to” the subsequent hour you say moins after which the quantity.
Beneath are some examples, with the primary sentence exhibiting the 12-hour clock and the second the 24-hour clock:
- 07:50: Il est huit heures moins dix (It’s ten to eight) or Il est sept heures cinquante (It’s seven fifty)
- 16:05: Il est quatre heures cinq (It’s 5 previous 4) or Il est seize heures cinq (It’s sixteen 5)
- 18:55: Il est sept heures moins cinq (It’s 5 to 6) or Il est dix-huit heures cinquante-cinq (It’s eighteen fifty-five)
- 20:40: Il est neuf heures moins vingt (It’s twenty to 9) or Il est huit heures quarante (It’s twenty forty)
Does French have phrases for AM and PM?
Brief reply, no. French doesn’t have the precise phrases for AM and PM like English does. However there are methods you possibly can categorical this.
One among them is to make use of the 24-hour format. So, in the event you say il est dix neuf heures (it’s nineteen o’clock), individuals would perceive you’re speaking about 7 PM.
One other means is so as to add the time of the day on the finish of your sentence. So il est sept heures du soir (it’s seven o’clock within the night) makes it clear that you simply imply 7 PM, as soir means night.
Listed here are some helpful phrases to speak concerning the morning, afternoon, night, and night time:
- Du matin: Within the morning (AM)
- De l’après-midi: Within the afternoon (PM)
- Du soir: Within the night (PM)
- De la nuit: At night time (PM)
What does”h” imply in French instances?
When working towards studying in French, you’ll see the time written like this: 10h, 10h00, 10h15, and so forth. What’s the “h” within the center?
It stands for heure, which suggests time or hour in French. It’s the way you usually write the time, similar to how we use “:” in English.
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