Learning to tell the time and say the date in French is one of the most practical skills you can develop. Whether you are planning a trip to Paris, preparing for a French language exam, or simply want to understand a native speaker’s message, mastering these elements will immediately boost your confidence. Many learners find that once they get the hang of French numbers and the 24-hour clock, the rest of the language starts to feel more approachable.
In this guide, we will break down the essential vocabulary and sentence structures you need. You will learn how to ask for the time, give a precise answer, and talk about days, months, and years. We will also cover the small but important differences between French and English conventions, such as the use of the 24-hour clock and the way dates are written. By the end of this post, you will be able to read a train schedule, make a reservation, or simply tell a friend when to meet for coffee.
Let’s start with the basics of telling time in French, then move on to dates. We will keep the explanations clear and give you plenty of real-life examples.
How to Ask and Tell the Time in French
The first thing to know is that French uses the 24-hour clock (also called military time in English) much more widely than English does. In everyday speech, you will hear both the 12-hour and 24-hour formats, but for official schedules, TV programs, and written announcements, the 24-hour clock is standard.
Key phrases for asking the time
- Quelle heure est-il ? – What time is it? (This is the standard way to ask.)
- Vous avez l’heure ? – Do you have the time? (More informal, used in conversation.)
- À quelle heure ? – At what time? (Use this when asking about an event.)
Telling the exact hour
To say “It is … o’clock,” use Il est + number + heure(s).
- Il est une heure. – It is 1:00.
- Il est deux heures. – It is 2:00.
- Il est onze heures. – It is 11:00.
Note that “une heure” is singular. For all other hours, “heure” becomes plural: “heures.”
Using the 24-hour clock
In French, 1:00 PM is not 1:00. It is 13:00. So you say:
- Il est treize heures. – It is 1:00 PM (13:00).
- Il est quinze heures. – It is 3:00 PM (15:00).
- Il est vingt-deux heures. – It is 10:00 PM (22:00).
For midnight, use Il est minuit. For noon, use Il est midi.
Minutes past and to the hour
French does not use “quarter to” or “half past” exactly like English, but there are similar structures.
- Il est deux heures cinq. – It is 2:05.
- Il est deux heures et quart. – It is 2:15 (quarter past two).
- Il est deux heures et demie. – It is 2:30 (half past two).
- Il est trois heures moins le quart. – It is 2:45 (quarter to three).
- Il est trois heures moins dix. – It is 2:50 (ten to three).
For minutes between 1 and 30, you simply add the number after the hour. For minutes between 31 and 59, you can say the next hour minus the remaining minutes. Both forms are common.
12-hour clock with AM and PM
If you prefer the 12-hour format, you can add du matin (in the morning), de l’après-midi (in the afternoon), or du soir (in the evening).
- Il est huit heures du matin. – It is 8:00 AM.
- Il est trois heures de l’après-midi. – It is 3:00 PM.
- Il est neuf heures du soir. – It is 9:00 PM.
Saying the Date in French
Dates in French follow a logical pattern, but there are a few key differences from English. The most important is that days come before months, and months are not capitalized.
Days of the week
Here are the French days, with their English equivalents:
- lundi – Monday
- mardi – Tuesday
- mercredi – Wednesday
- jeudi – Thursday
- vendredi – Friday
- samedi – Saturday
- dimanche – Sunday
Days are masculine in French. You do not need an article when saying the day alone, but you use le when specifying a date.
Months of the year
Months in French are also masculine and are not capitalized in writing.
- janvier – January
- février – February
- mars – March
- avril – April
- mai – May
- juin – June
- juillet – July
- août – August
- septembre – September
- octobre – October
- novembre – November
- décembre – December
How to write and say the date
To say “Today is …” use Nous sommes le or C’est le + number + month + year.
Examples:
- Nous sommes le 5 mars 2025. – Today is March 5, 2025.
- C’est le 14 juillet. – It is July 14 (Bastille Day).
- Le 1er janvier est le Jour de l’An. – January 1st is New Year’s Day.
Notice that for the first day of the month, you use 1er (premier) instead of just “un.” For all other days, use the regular cardinal number (2, 3, 4, etc.).
When writing the date numerically, French always uses day/month/year. So March 5, 2025 is written as 05/03/2025 or 5/3/2025.
Years in French
Years are typically said as a full number. For example, 2025 is deux mille vingt-cinq. For earlier years, you might hear two-digit groupings, such as dix-neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix (1990), but the modern trend is to say mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix.
Common Expressions with Dates and Time
Here are some phrases you will hear frequently in French conversations:
- Quel jour sommes-nous ? – What day is it?
- Quelle est la date aujourd’hui ? – What is today’s date?
- Nous sommes le combien ? – What’s the date? (informal)
- À quelle date ? – On what date?
- Le week-end prochain – Next weekend
- La semaine dernière – Last week
- Ce mois-ci – This month
- L’année prochaine – Next year
Practical Examples for Daily Life
Let’s look at some scenarios where you would use time and date in French.
Making a doctor’s appointment
Patient: Bonjour, je voudrais un rendez-vous.
Receptionist: Oui, quel jour préférez-vous ?
Patient: Le mercredi 12 mars, s’il vous plaît.
Receptionist: Très bien. À quelle heure ?
Patient: À quatorze heures trente, si possible.
Receptionist: D’accord. Mercredi 12 mars à 14h30. Confirmez-vous ?
Patient: Oui, je confirme.
Reading a train schedule
French train schedules (horaires) always use the 24-hour clock. You might see:
- Paris – Lyon: départ 08h15, arrivée 10h42
- Lyon – Marseille: départ 14h50, arrivée 17h05
When reading aloud, say “départ à huit heures quinze” and “arrivée à dix heures quarante-deux.”
Inviting someone to a party
“La fête aura lieu le samedi 4 juin à vingt et une heures chez moi. Merci de confirmer avant le 1er juin.”
(The party will take place on Saturday, June 4 at 9 PM at my place. Please confirm before June 1.)
Quick Reference Table: Time Expressions
| English | French (formal) | French (informal) |
|---|---|---|
| What time is it? | Quelle heure est-il ? | Il est quelle heure ? |
| It is 2:00 | Il est deux heures | Il est deux heures |
| It is 2:15 | Il est deux heures quinze | Il est deux heures et quart |
| It is 2:30 | Il est deux heures trente | Il est deux heures et demie |
| It is 2:45 | Il est deux heures quarante-cinq | Il est trois heures moins le quart |
| It is noon | Il est midi | Il est midi |
| It is midnight | Il est minuit | Il est minuit |
| In the morning | du matin | du matin |
| In the afternoon | de l’après-midi | de l’après-midi |
| In the evening | du soir | du soir |
Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Even advanced learners sometimes slip up with time and date in French. Here are three frequent errors:
- Forgetting the 24-hour clock. If a French person says “il est quinze heures,” do not translate it as 3:00 AM. Always remember that hours from 13 to 24 refer to the afternoon or evening.
- Capitalizing months and days. In French, days and months are written in lowercase unless they start a sentence. Writing “Lundi” in the middle of a sentence is wrong.
- Using the wrong preposition for dates. To say “on March 5,” use le (not “sur” or “à”). For example: “Le 5 mars.”
FAQ: Reading Time and Date in French
1. Do I always have to use the 24-hour clock in French?
Not always. In casual conversation, many French people use the 12-hour clock with “du matin,” “de l’après-midi,” or “du soir.” However, for official purposes like train schedules, TV listings, or business meetings, the 24-hour clock is expected. It is safer to learn both and use the 24-hour clock when writing.
2. How do I say “on the first of the month” in French?
Use “le premier” (abbreviated as “1er”). For example, “le 1er mai” is May 1st. For all other days, use regular numbers: “le 2 mai,” “le 3 mai,” and so on.
3. Why do French people sometimes say “on est le” instead of “nous sommes le”?
Both are correct, but “on est le” is much more common in spoken French. “On” is the informal equivalent of “nous.” So you might hear “On est le 15 juin” just as often as “Nous sommes le 15 juin.” Use “nous” in formal writing, and “on” in everyday conversation.
Mastering time and date in French is a small step that makes a big difference. Practice by looking at a French calendar, reading train times online, or setting your phone to French. The more you expose yourself to real examples, the more natural it will feel. Bonne chance !
Oh, this is exactly the kind of thing I wish I’d had before my last trip—I still panic whenever a train schedule says “20h15” and my brain tries to convert it to 8:15 PM while I’m already on the platform. The 24-hour clock is honestly the sneakiest hurdle; it’s not hard, but it feels like your brain has to reboot every single time. One tip that saved me: drill the numbers by reading the time on your phone’s clock in French out loud every day, even if you’re just muttering to yourself in the grocery line. Quick question though—do you cover the little detail about “midi” and “minuit” being used without “heure,” or is that saved for the next post? Because that one tripped me up more than any date format ever did.
Brenda, your phone-clock trick is brilliant—I do the same thing, but with my oven timer, and it’s saved me more than once when a baker tells me my baguette will be ready at “quatorze heures trente.” And yes, you’re absolutely right about “midi” and “minuit” skipping “heure”—that threw me off for weeks until a friend finally explained it, and I make a point to mention it in the post because it’s such a common stumble. Stick with the daily muttering; it really rewires the brain faster than any app.
Ag, you know, Brenda nailed it about the 24-hour clock—I still catch myself doing mental gymnastics with train times, and I’ve lived here for years. Your tip about muttering the time on your phone is gold, though; I’d add that practicing the date while checking your calendar app works just as well. But I do wish the post had squeezed in a quick note on how the French write dates with the day first, like “14 juillet,” because that little reversal still trips me up when reading invitations.
Lindiwe, you’ve hit on the exact reason I keep a calendar in French on my phone—seeing “14 juillet” instead of “July 14” every morning finally beat the reversal into my skull. And yes, the day-first format is a silent killer when you RSVP to something and realize you’ve booked a party for the wrong month. Your calendar-app trick pairs perfectly with Brenda’s clock muttering; now I just need to stop whispering “mercredi” at my grocery list like a lunatic.
Brendan, your calendar-in-French trick is exactly what I needed to hear—I’ve been burned by the whole day-first thing more times than I care to admit, especially when a friend’s birthday invite reads “le 3 mars” and my brain insists it’s March 3rd only after I’ve double-checked the month. And don’t worry about whispering “mercredi” at your grocery list; I’ve caught myself doing the same with “jeudi” while staring at a box of cereal, and honestly, it’s the weird little habits that make the language stick.
Oh, Brenda and Lindiwe, you two just saved my sanity—I’ve been doing the exact same mental scramble with “20h15,” and I nearly missed a train in Lyon because I kept telling myself it was 8:15 PM. Your phone-clock muttering trick is brilliant, and I’ve started doing it with my microwave, but I’m still tripping over the dates, especially when someone writes “1er” for the first of the month—do you ever get thrown by the ordinal “premier” only being used for the first, while the rest stay regular numbers? That one little quirk still makes me pause mid-sentence when I’m reading a French menu or a bakery sign.
The phone-clock muttering trick is a lifesaver, and I’d add one more layer: say the date in French every morning when you unlock your phone’s calendar. It’s the only way I finally stopped writing “le 3 mars” as March 3rd without a double-take. One thing I still stumble on, though, is “hier” versus “demain” when someone rattles off a time—do you ever mix those up mid-conversation, or is that just my jetlagged brain? Also, for anyone heading to Quebec, the way they say “cinq heures et quart” instead of “cinq heures quinze” will throw you even harder than the 24-hour clock, so brace for that.