Telling Time in French

Whether you're traveling to France or learning the French language, being able to tell time is important. From asking what time it is to the key vocabulary you need for speaking in French about hours, minutes, and days, this lesson will guide you through everything you need to know.

French Vocabulary for Telling Time

To begin with, there are a few key French vocabulary words related to time that you should know. These are the basics and will help you throughout the rest of this lesson.

time	l'heure
noon	midi
midnight	minuit
and a quarter	et quart
quarter to	moins le quart
and a half	et demie
in the morning	du matin
in the afternoon	de l'après-midi
in the evening	du soir

The Rules for Telling Time in French

Telling time in French is just a matter of knowing the French numbers and a few formulas and rules. It's different than we use in English, so here are the basics:

• The French word for "time," as in, "What time is it?" is l'heure, not le temps. The latter means "time" as in "I spent a lot of time there."
• In English, we often leave out "o'clock" and it's perfectly fine to say "It's seven." or "I'm leaving at three-thirty." This is not so in French. You always have to say heure, except when saying midi (noon) and minuit (midnight).
• In French, the hour and minute are separated by h (for heure, as in 2h00) where in English we use a colon (: as in 2:00).
• French doesn't have words for "a.m." and "p.m." You can use du matin for a.m., de l'après-midi from noon until about 6 p.m., and du soir from 6 p.m. until midnight. However, time is usually expressed on a 24-hour clock. That means that 3 p.m. is normally expressed as quinze heures (15 hours) or 15h00, but you can also say trois heures de l'après-midi (three hours after noon).

What Time Is It? (Quelle heure est-il?)

When you ask what time it is, you will receive an answer similar to this. Keep in mind that there are a few different ways to express different times within the hour, so it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with all of these. You can even practice this throughout your day and speak the time in French whenever you look at a clock.

It's one o'clock	Il est une heure	1h00
It's two o'clock	Il est deux heures	2h00
It's 3:30	Il est trois heures et demie Il est trois heures trente	3h30
It's 4:15	Il est quatre heures et quart Il est quatre heures quinze	4h15
It's 4:45	Il est cinq heures moins le quart Il est cinq heures moins quinze Il est quatre heures quarante-cinq	4h45
It's 5:10	Il est cinq heures dix	5h10
It's 6:50	Il est sept heures moins dix Il est six heures cinquante	6h50
It's 7 a.m.	Il est sept heures du matin	7h00
It's 3 p.m.	Il est trois heures de l'après-midi Il est quinze heures	15h00
It's noon	Il est midi	12h00
It's midnight	Il est minuit	0h00

Asking the Time in French

Conversations regarding what time it is will use questions and answers similar to these. If you're traveling in a French-speaking country, you'll find these very useful as you try to maintain your itinerary.

What time is it?	Quelle heure est-il ?
Do you have the time, please?	Est-ce que vous avez l'heure, s'il vous plaît ?
What time is the concert? The concert is at eight o'clock in the evening.	À quelle heure est le concert ? Le concert est à huit heures du soir.

Periods of Time in French

Now that we have the basics of telling time covered, expand your French vocabulary by studying the words for periods of time. From seconds to millennium, this shortlist of words covers the entire expanse of time.  

a second	une seconde
a minute	une minute
an hour	une heure
a day / a whole day	un jour, une journée
a week	une semaine
a month	un mois
a year / a whole year	un an, une année
a decade	une décennie
a century	un siècle
a millennium	un millénaire

Points in Time in French

Each day has various points in time that you might need to describe in French. For instance, you might want to talk about a beautiful sunset or let someone know what you're doing at night. Commit these words to memory and you'll have no problem doing just that.

sunrise	le lever de soleil
dawn	l'aube (f)
morning	le matin
afternoon	l'après-midi
noon	midi
evening	le soir
dusk	le crépuscule, entre chien et loup
sunset	le coucher de soleil
night	la nuit
midnight	le minuit

Temporal Prepositions

As you begin to formulate sentences with your new French time vocabulary, you will find it useful to know these temporal prepositions. These short words are used to further define when something is taking place.

since	depuis
during	pendant
at	à
in	en
in	dans
for	pour

Relative Time in French

Time is relative to other points in time. For instance, there is always a yesterday which is followed by today and tomorrow, so you'll find this vocabulary a great addition to your ability to explain relationships in time. 

yesterday	hier
today	aujourd'hui
now	maintenant
tomorrow	demain
the day before yesterday	avant-hier
the day after tomorrow	l'après-demain
the day before, the eve of	la veille de
the day after, the next day	le lendemain
last week	la semaine passée/dernière
the final week	la dernière semaine (Notice how dernier is in a different position in "last week" and "the final week." That subtle change has a significant impact on the meaning.)
next week	la semaine prochaine
days of the week	les jours de la semaine
months of the year	les mois de l'année
the calendar	le​ calendrier
the four seasons	les quatre saisons
winter came early / late spring came early / late summer came early / late autumn came early / late	l'hiver fut précoce / tardif le printemps fut précoce / tardif l'ete fut précoce / tardif l'automne fut précoce / tardif
last winter last spring last summer last autumn	l'hiver dernier le printemps dernier l'ete dernier l'automne dernier
next winter next spring next summer next autumn	l'hiver prochain le printemps prochain l'ete prochain l'automne prochain
a little while ago, in a little while	tout à l'heure
right away	tout de suite
within a week	d'ici une semaine
for, since	depuis
ago (depuis versus il y a)	il y a
on time	à l'heure
in time	à temps
at that time	à l'époque
early	en avance
late	en retard

Temporal Adverbs

As you become even more fluent in French, consider adding a few temporal adverbs to your vocabulary. Once again, they can be used to further define when something is taking place.

currently	actuellement
then	alors
after	après
today	aujourd'hui
previously, beforehand	auparavant
before	avant
soon	bientôt
meanwhile	cependant
afterwards, meanwhile	ensuite
for a long time	longtemps
now	maintenant
anytime	n'importe quand
then	puis
recently	récemment
late	tard
all of a sudden, suddenly	tout à coup
in a little while, a little while ago	tout à l'heure

Frequency in French

There will also be times when you need to speak about the frequency of an event. Whether it only happens once or reoccurs on a weekly or monthly basis, this short vocabulary list will help you achieve that.

once	une fois
once a week	une fois par semaine
daily	quotidien
every day	tous les jours
every other day	tous les deux jours
weekly	hebdomadaire
every week	toutes les semaines
monthly	mensuel
yearly	annuel

Adverbs of Frequency

Adverbs that relate to frequency are just as important and you'll find yourself using this quite often as your French studies progress.

again	encore
one more time	encore une fois
never, ever	jamais
sometimes	parfois
sometimes	quelquefois
rarely	rarement
often	souvent
always	toujours

Time Itself: Le Temps

Le temps refers broadly either to the weather or a duration of time, indeterminate or specific. Because it is such a basic concept that surrounds us every day, many French idiomatic expressions have evolved using temps. Here are a few common ones that you might need to know.

a little while ago	il y a peu de temps
in a little while	dans un moment, dans quelque temps
at the same time	en même temps
at the same time as	au même temps que
cooking / preparation time	temps de cuisson / préparation cuisine
a part-time job	un temps partiel
a full-time job	un temps plein ou plein temps
to work part-time	être ou travailler à temps partiel
to work full-time	être ou travailler à plein temps ou à temps plein
to work full-time	travailler à temps complet
to work 30 hours per week	faire un trois quarts (de) temps
time to think	le temps de la réflexion
to reduce working hours	diminuer le temps de travail
to have some spare time / free time	avoir du temps libre
in one's spare time, in a spare moment	à temps perdu
in times past, in the old days	au temps jadis
with the passing of time	avec le temps
all the time, always	tout le temps
in music, a strong beat / figuratively, a high point or a highlight	temps fort
in sports, a time-out / figuratively, a lull or a slack period	temps mort