Language/French/Grammar/How-to-tell-the-time
il est[edit | edit source]
In telling time, 'it is' is always il est, never *c'est:
- Quelle heure est-il? (Or Quelle heure avez-vous?)
What time is it?
heures[edit | edit source]
heures is obligatory:
- Il est deux heures vingt; il est trois heures moins vingt
It's two twenty; it's twenty to three
et[edit | edit source]
et links quart and demi to the hour in times past the hour - demi agrees in gender with the noun:
- onze heures et quart a quarter past eleven
- midi et quart
a quarter past midday
- minuit et quart
a quarter past midnight
- onze heures et demie
half past eleven
- midi et demi
half past midday
- minuit et demi
half past midnight
moins le quart[edit | edit source]
'a quarter to' the hour is moins le quart (or moins un quart):
- onze heures moins le quart
a quarter to eleven
As in English, one can equally say onze heures quinze 'eleven fifteen', midi trente 'thirty minutes past midday', etc.
timetables[edit | edit source]
In French timetables, times are usually written as 21h35.
Time expressions[edit | edit source]
- à l'heure
on time
- à temps
in time
- à deux heures précises
at two o'clock precisely (official report)
- justes
exactly two o'clock (looking at watch)
- sonnantes
hang on two o'clock (for effect)
- tapantes
spot on two (for effect, more informal)
- vers deux heures/vers les deux heures/autour de deux heures
about two
- à deux heures environ/dans les environs de deux heures
o'clock
- Je peux faire mes comptes dans une heure
I can do my accounts in an hour's time
- Je peux faire mes comptes en une heure
I can do my accounts within an hour
Other Chapters[edit | edit source]
Videos[edit | edit source]
How to tell the time in French[edit | edit source]
Telling time in French - What time is it?[edit | edit source]
Other Lessons[edit | edit source]
- Function of adverbs
- Quand utiliser "et" ou "est" ?
- Adverbs ending in —ment derived from nouns
- Nouns which change meaning when they change gender
- Negation
- Non specific use of y
- Use of stressed pronouns for emphasis
- An adjective agreeing with nouns linked by de
- Use of the definite article to indicate a habitual action
- Impersonal verbs
- Use of y
- Much More Little Less
- "J'ai eu" or "j'avais"
- Indirect object pronouns used in possessive constructions with body parts
- Adverbs ending in —ment derived from words no longer in the language