L'heure - Telling the time is an important part of our daily life and we do it constantly without even realising. This is why it's another important topic we're tackling here today on The Languages Kitchen. In this lesson, we'll also learn some time phrases that are often used in the French language. This lesson will serve as a revision of the numbers in French and some of the time phrases we'll be mentioning we might also have already mentioned in past lessons
1. Vocabulary to learn how to tell the time
2. Quelle heure est-il?/What time is it?
The following are a few rules to telling the time in French.
In French, we cannot leave out 'o'clock' as we do in English (ex. It's five). In French, you always say Il est cinq heures. The only exception is when we say midi (noon) and minuit (midnight).
The hour and the minutes in French get separated by h (for heure). Ex. 6h00 - Il est six heures.
Instead of using am/pm, in French we use du matin - in the morning, de l'après-midi - in the afternoon, du soir - in the evening (from 6pm until midnight).
In French, time is usually expressed on a 24-hour clock, therefore after midday, we say ex. 13h00 - Il est treize heures, 19h00 - Il est dix-neuf heures, however, you can also say Il est sept heures du soir.
3. Donner l'heure / Telling the time
It's one o'clock
It's two o'clock
It's 3:15
It's 4:30
It's 5:45
It's 6:10
It's 7:20
It's 8:40
It's 9:50
It's 12:00
It's 00:00
It's 16:25
It's 21:35
Il est une heure.
Il est deux heures.
Il est trois heures et quart / Il est trois heures quinze.
Il est quatre heures et demie / Il est quatre heures trente.
Il est six heures moins le quart / Il est cinq heures quarante-cinq.
Il est six heures dix.
Il est sept heures vingt.
Il est neuf heures moins vingt.
Il est dix heures moins dix.
Il est midi.
Il est minuit.
Il est quatre heures vingt-cinq de l'après-midi / Il est seize heures vingt-cinq.
Il est neuf heures trente-cinq du soir / Il est vingt-deux heures trente-cinq.
4. Demander l'heure / Asking for the time
Quelle heure est-il? -What time is it?
À quelle heure est le/la...? - At what time is the ...?
Est-ce que vous avez l'heure, s'il vous plaît? - Do you have the time, please?
Now that you have all the information, go ahead and practice what you've just learnt and also find some time phrases that are commonly used in France. Here is a listening you will need to complete one of the exercises on the worksheet.
