Telling Time In French - 24-hour Clock Rules = AM Vs PM

Stop guessing, start learning! 14% off all Premium plans » Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCELast updated: 2025-12-29152 questionsReport a problem

Related lessons

• Telling time in French - general 12-hour clock rules
• An vs année, matin vs matinée, jour vs journée, soir vs soirée to express a time unit or a duration in French
• Expressing timeliness in French - late/early/on time - general
• Expressing timeliness in French - late/early - precise
• Il y a + [durée] = [duration] + ago (French Expressions of Time)

• French»
• Library»
• Grammar»
• Level A1»
• Numbers, Time & Date»

Telling time in French - 24-hour clock rules = AM vs PMWritten by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCELast updated: 2025-12-29152 questionsTake the fastest path to fluent FrenchJoin now for free!

You've already learned Telling time in French - general 12-hour clock rules. In this lesson we'll see how to use the 24-hour clock and to differentiate between AM and PM in French.

The 24-hour clock in French

In France you will often hear the twenty-four hour clock used, as such:

Il est vingt heures.It's eight PM. The fact is that, when there's no risk of confusion between AM and PM, French people use both 12-hour and 24-hour clocks interchangeably: On se rejoint à cinq heures.Let's meet at five.

On se rejoint à dix-sept heures.Let's meet at five. You know you're probably not meeting at 5AM! -

However, when there is risk of confusion between AM and PM, you will either:

- Use the 24-hour clock, OR - Add precisions like du matin (in the morning), de l'après-midi (in the afternoon) and even du soir(in the evening, starting around 6PM), after the "12-hour clock" time.

Il est six heures du soir.It is six PM.

Il est dix-huit heures.It is six PM.

Il est six heures du matin.It is six AM.

ATTENTION: nuances to express "quarter past/half past/quarter to"

When the time expressed uses hour numbers under 12 (with either clock), you use et quart/et demie/moins le quart, and not quinze/trente/quarante-cinq.

Il est trois heures et demie de l'après-midi.It is three-thirty PM.

Il est quatre heures et quart du matin.It is quarter past four in the morning.

Il est huit heures et demie.It's half past eight.

Il est onze heures moins le quart.It's quarter to eleven.

When the time expressed uses hour numbers above 12 (in the "24-hour clock" -> 13h, 14h...), you use instead quinze, trente, quarante-cinq, probably for pronunciation (and elegance) reasons.

Il est seize heures quinze.It is quarter past four PM.

​​Il est quinze heures trente.It is three-thirty PM.

Il est dix-neuf heures quarante-cinq.It's quarter to eight PM.

 

Want to make sure your French sounds confident? We’ll map your knowledge and give you free lessons to focus on your gaps and mistakes. Start your Brainmap today »

Find your French level for FREE

And get your personalised Study Plan to improve it

Find your French level

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

• Idioms about Time

Examples and resources

Il est vingt heures.It's eight PM.Il est huit heures et demie.It's half past eight.On se rejoint à dix-sept heures.Let's meet at five.Il est onze heures moins le quart.It's quarter to eleven.Il est six heures du soir.It is six PM.Il est dix-huit heures.It is six PM.Il est quatre heures et quart de l'après-midi.It is quarter past four PM.Il est seize heures quinze.It is quarter past four PM.On se rejoint à cinq heures.Let's meet at five.Il est six heures du matin.It is six AM.Il est trois heures et demie du matin.It is half past three in the morning.Il est quatre heures et quart du matin.It is quarter past four in the morning.​​Il est quinze heures trente.It is three-thirty PM.Il est trois heures et demie de l'après-midi.It is three-thirty PM.Il est dix-neuf heures quarante-cinq.It's quarter to eight PM. Getting that for you now...