What level is Telling Time: The 12-Hour System?

This lesson is designed for A1 learners and can still help a learner revising the topic at another level.

Can I open the interactive lesson?

Yes. Use the lesson button to practise the topic with interactive exercises and progress tracking.

French Vocabulary

Telling Time: The 12-Hour System

How to ask for the time and express hours, half-hours, and quarter-hours in French.

Level A1 Category Vocabulary

Start Interactive Lesson

Lesson Summary

How to ask for the time and express hours, half-hours, and quarter-hours in French.

Vocabulary

Asking and Telling the Time

The question Quelle heure est‑il ? (What time is it?) is answered with Il est … heures.
The word heure(s) is always present.
For the numbers required, see numbers 0–30 and numbers 31–100.

Basic Time Expressions

Time	French	Structure
1:00	Il est une heure.	une because heure is feminine singular
2:00	Il est deux heures.	number + heures (plural after 1)
3:15	Il est trois heures et quart.	et quart = quarter past
4:30	Il est quatre heures et demie.	et demie = half past
5:45	Il est six heures moins le quart.	moins le quart = quarter to
12:00	Il est midi. / Il est minuit.	midi (noon), minuit (midnight)
8:10	Il est huit heures dix.	simply add the minutes after heures
9:50	Il est dix heures moins dix.	moins = minutes to the next hour

Essential Rules

For 1:00, the singular feminine une heure is used. All other hours take the plural heures.

The standard constructions are et quart (quarter past), et demie (half past), moins le quart (quarter to), and moins + number (minutes to).

For other minutes, the number is placed directly after heure(s): deux heures vingt-cinq (2:25).

The 24‑hour system, used in official schedules (e.g., treize heures for 1 p.m.), will be introduced separately.

Examples

Quelle heure est-il ? – Il est sept heures et demie.
Asking and answering: 7:30.
Le cours commence à neuf heures moins le quart.
The class starts at 8:45.

Related searches

These are the main phrases this lesson covers:

Telling Time: The 12-Hour SystemHow to ask for the time and express hours, half-hours, and quarter-hours in French.Ask for and state the time using standard 12‑hour phrasing, including quarter‑past and quarter‑to constructions.VocabularyA1vocabularyLearn French VocabularyFrench VocabularyAsking and Telling the TimeThe question Quelle heure est‑il ? (What time is it?) is answered with Il est … heures. The word heure(s) is always present. For the numbers required, see numbers 0–30 and numbers 31–100.