Quelle heure est-il?

"What time is it?" in French is "Quelle heure est-il?" . Asking for time or answering this question is easy.

Most of the time, French people use a 24-hour time format. So, 1pm is rather 13 heures (treize heures). Some examples:

• Je vais au travail à 7 heures.
  Everyday, I go to my office at 7am.
• J'ai un rendez-vous à 15 heures.
  I have a meeting at 3pm.

Time is written in a HHhMM format and a French day can be divided into 5 parts:

5h - 12h	le matin or la matinée
12h - 14h	le midi
14h - 18h	l'après-midi
18h - 23h	le soir
23h - 5h	la nuit

Sometimes, French use a 12-hour time format to insist on the time.

• Je me lève à 6 heures du matin.
  I wake-up at 6 o'clock. (IT IS EARLY)
• Je me couche à 11 heures du soir.
  I go to bed at 11pm. (IT IS LATE)

Let's answer the basic question: "Quelle heure est-il ?"...

Time	Pronounciation
8h	il est huit heures
8h07	il est huit heures sept
8h15	il est huit heures quinze
8h30	il est huit heures trente
8h35	il est huit heures trente cinq
8h45	il est huit heures quarante cinq
8h54	il est huit heures cinquante quatre

Current time, in Paris, is : "il est "

"Il est" is impersonal. Nobody is represented by "il", just like in English when you say "it is 8 o'clock".