L'heure (part 1)

Rules

• Use the 24 hours clock (the 12 hours clock can be used with people you know).
• “Heure” is a feminine word in French, so for 1:00 and 21:00 use “une” not “un.”
• To turn the word “heure” into plural add a silent “s” at the end of it.
• Times must be preceded by the impersonal subject “il” and the verb “est.”
• “À” means “at” in front of a time.

For example: 
01:05 → Il est une heure cinq.
21:10 → Il est vingt-et-une heures dix.
At 10:00 → À dix heures.

Question

Quelle heure est-il ? (formal) → What time is it?
Il est quelle heure ? (informal) → What time is it?
Il est …. → It’s ….

 

The minutes

For the minutes, we use the normal numbers except for:
15 → Et quart.
30 → Et demi(e). (or “trente”)
35 → Moins vingt-cinq.
40 → Moins vingt.
45 → Moins le quart.
50 → Moins dix.
55 → Moins cinq.

The hours

For the morning, use the numbers 1 to 12 and for the afternoon/evening/night use the numbers 13 to 24. We never say or use 12 for midday, but we say “midi,” and we never say or use 24 for midnight but we say “minuit”.