French Telling Time

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French telling time words & phrases translated into English, with phonetic pronunciation, notes, and able to be downloaded as PDF, CSV or Excel.

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English	French	Pronunciation	Notes
What time is it?	quel heure est-il ?	Kay luhr ay teel?	the "h" of "heure" is silent, in "tihl" we linked the "t" of "est" with the "i" of "il"
It is one o'clock.	c'est une heure	say toon uh[r]	the "u" in "une" is as if you pronounce "use" but without pronouncing the "y" and the "eu" in "heure" is close to the interjection "eww" when you see something disgusting)
It is five o'clock	c'est cinq heure	say sa[n] kuh[r]
am	avant-midi	ah-VAH[n] mee-dee	In "midi" the "i" in not pronounced as in "side" but as in "feed" or "breed" only it is not as long. [n] is nasal in "avant"
pm	après-midi	ap-REH mee-dee	In "midi" the "i" in not pronounced as in "side" but as in "feed" or "breed" only it is not as long. The "è" is pronounced as "e" in "set".
(It's) a quarter past (ten)	(il est) (dix) heure et quart	EE leh (dee-z)uh[r] ay kah[rt]
(It's) half-past (five)	(il est) (cinq) heure et demie	EE leh sa[n]k uh[r] ay DUH-mee	in "demie" we pronounce the "do" as the verb "to do" and the "i" is pronounced as in the example above
(It's) a quarter until (ten)	(il est) (dix) heure moins (le) quart	EE leh (dee-z)uh[r] mwa[n] kah[rt]	"le" is optional, [n] is nasal
morning	matin	MEH-tah[n]	[n] is nasal
noon	midi	mee-dee	pronouciation is the same as in 5 and 6
afternoon	après-midi	ap-REH midi
evening	soir	swa[r]	"r" is guttural; kind of like coughing up a hairball
midnight	minuit	MEEN-wee	"wee" as in "week" but shorter and with the tongue forward
At what time ...?	à quel heure ?	ah kehl uh[r]
At ...	à	ah	"a" as in "father"
yesterday	hier	EE-ayr	"i" as in "internet" and ay as in "hay" or "day, "r" guttural; kind of like coughing up a hairball
tomorrow	demain	DOOH-mah[n]	[n] is nasal
today	aujourd'hui	OH-zhoor-dwee	"ou" as in "you", "wee" as in "wee" but shorter and with tongue forward
one	un	un[n]
two	deux	dooh	short clip
three	trois	trwa
four	quatre	kah-trh
five	cinq	sa[n]k
six	six	sees	"i" as in "sit"
seven	sept	set	exactly as in the verb "set", the "p" is silent
eight	huit	weet	"wee" as in "week" but shorter and with the tongue forward.
nine	neuf	nuhf
ten	dix	dees	"i" as in "sit"
eleven	onze	o[n]z	"on" as in "long"
twelve	douze	dooz	"oo" as in "food"
thirteen	treize	trez
fourteen	quatorze	kah-torz
fifteen	quinze	kunz
sixteen	seize	sehz
seventeen	dix-sept	dee-set
eighteen	dix-huit	dee-zweet
nineteen	dix-neuf	deez-nuhf
twenty	vingt	vuh[ng]
twenty-one	vingt et un	vuh[ng] tay uh[n]
twenty-two	vingt-deux	vuh[ng] dooh
twenty-three	vingt-trois	vuh[ng] trwa
second {of time}	seconde	sew-ko[n]dh
minute	minute	MEE-noot	"u" as if you pronounce "use" but without pronouncing the "y"
hour	heure	uh[r]
English	French	Pronunciation	Notes