To tell time in French, you should first review how to say and write numbers 1-24. This is because the 24-hour clock tells time in the French language. This is also what we know as “military time.” Look at the following chart to review useful words that are often expressed when telling time. Be sure to read the example sentences to understand how to put these words into context.

What time is it ? – Quelle heure est-il ?

English	French	Example	Translation
o’clock	heure(s)	Il est six heures (6h).	It is 6 o’clock (AM).
quarter past	et quart	Il est neuf heures (9h) et quart.	It is 9 o’clock and a quarter = 9:15AM.
quarter til	moins le quart	Il est onze heures (11h) moins le quart.	It is 11 o’clock minus the quarter = 10:45 AM.
half	et demie	Il est onze heures (11h) et demie	It is 11 o’clock and half = 11:30 AM
in the morning	du matin	Il est cinq heures (5h) du matin.	It is 5 o’clock in the morning.
in the afternoon	de l’après-midi	Il est quinze heures (15h) de l’après-midi.	It is 3 o’clock in the afternoon.
evening/night	du soir	Il est vingt heures (20h) du soir.	It is 8 o’clock in the evening.
noon (12:00 PM)	midi	Il est midi.	It is noon.
midnight (12:00 AM)	`minuit	Il est minuit.	It is midnight.

Notice how the expression Il est is impersonal and remains constant while telling time.

Temporal Prepositions

We tell time in various other ways besides expressing the hour of the day. Below are a list of French temporal prepositions and when to use them in different contexts.

à – = at a specific time (hour or moment in time)

            Vous parlez au patron à 8h du matin.

You speak to the boss at 8 o’clock in the morning.

en – when an event occurs for a particular length in time or during a month, season, or year

            Je préfère faire des promenades en automne.

I prefer to take walks in the fall.

dans – tells the amount of time before an action starts

            Les filles se présentent dans 10 minutes.

The girls are introducing themselves in 10 minutes.

depuis – expresses the duration of action that is still actively occurring (or shows an action that was happening when another event took place)

            Le bébé dort depuis deux heures !

The baby has been sleeping for two hours.

pendant – indicates the entire duration of an event

durant – indicates the entire duration of an event

            Nous avons dîné au restaurant pendant/durant trois heures.

We ate dinner in the restaurant for three hours.

pour – expressions the duration of an action/event in the future

            Je vais en France pour deux mois l’année prochaine.

I am going to France for two months next year.

Notice how not all temporal prepositions translate literally. Many of them literally translate to “for [a certain amount of time],” so it’s important to understand the context of each French sentence.