Consider the following questions and answers you'll need to be on top of the time.
Consult Table 9 to tell time correctly in French.
To express and understand time properly remember the following:
- To express time after the hour, the number of minutes is added. Et (and) is used only with quart (quarter) and demi(e) (half).
- Moins (less, minus) is used to express time before the hour.
- Moins le is used before quart to express 15 minutes after the hour.
- Because midi (noon) and minuit (midnight) are masculine, to say half past, use et demi, as in the following: J'arrive ` midi et demi. (I'm arriving at half past noon.)
- In public announcements, such as timetables, the official twenty‐four‐hour system is commonly used, with midnight as the zero hour:
- 16 h is 4:00 p.m.
- 21 h 45 is 9:45 p.m.