French – Time and Clock

L'horloge - Clock

Q- What time is it ? or what is the time?
Quelle heure est-il? spell it like kel her a theel

Q- What time is it now?
maintenant(spell it like meinthe-naan) – meaning of now
Quelle heure est-il maintenant?

Answers
il est(pron like eel a) – it is

It is 8 ‘O’ Clock – il est huit heures

Rules

Rule 1: For saying round time:

We use ‘o’ clock in English, but in French we say
il est –heures

Exception-

1 ‘o’ clock – il Est uen heure
12 am – il est minuit – prounciation like minn-oui
12 pm = il est midi (pron like midhi)

Rule 2: For saying 1/4th past the time

1:15 = il est huere et un quart (spell it like eel a her eun car)
2:15 = il est deux heures et un quart
and so on

Rule 3: For saying 1/2 past the time

1:30 = il est une heure et demie ( spell it like eel a un her a dhemi)
2:30 = il est deux heures et demie
and so on

****Rule 4: For saying 3/4th past the time

We subtract it from the next hour
1:45 = il est deux heures moins le quart (pron like mwen eun car)
2:45 = il est trois heures moins le quart
and so on

Rule 5: For all the other time

We say for example 5:25 – il est cinq heures vingt-cinq
Note: We do not mention the word ‘minutes’ in French

Rule 6: And for all the other time after 40 minutes past the time, we subtract it from the next time
for example : 5:50 – il est six heures moins dix ( i mean 6 hours minus 10)

“du matin” – for a.m
“de l’ apre’s midi ” for noon until 6 PM
“du soir ” from 6 pm until midnight

Example – it’s noon – il est midi – 12h00
it’s 7 a.m – il est sept heures du matin
it’s 3 pm – il est trois heures de l’ apres-midi

Exercise:

1:10
2:15
3:30
4:45
5:50
6:56

Tutorials for all brains!