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Making things negative
How to negate French verbs using ne... pas.
My, your, his, her...
How to use possessive adjectives in French
Possession in nouns
How to say something belongs to somebody
The definite article
All the different ways of saying "the" in French
The partitive article
How to say "some" or "any" in French
Communication issues
Words and phrases for when your French deserts you!
Talking about the weather
The ultimate icebreaker
Telling the time
How to ask and give the time in French
Days of the week
Because not every day is Saturday
Talking about your family
Words and phrases for talking about your nearest and dearest
Conversation fillers
How to say "um... well... you know..." in French
Question words
Who? What? When? Where? Why? How much?
Time concepts
How to talk about whether something is early, late or on time.
Un, deux, trois... French numbers
How to count from zero to a million in French
French idioms and expressions
Weird things French speakers say

Telling the time in French

One important thing to note when talking about the time is that the French make greater use of the 24 hour clock than we typically do. You'll frequently encounter it in more formal situations (for instance, when making appointments) and also when clarifying whether a time is in the morning or in the evening.

In casual conversation where it's pretty obvious whether you're talking about day or night (for instance, when you're talking about going for dinner at eight'o'clock) it's more common to use the 12-hour clock.

In writing, you'll never see times written as 5pm or 3am. It will always be written 17h30 (5:30pm) or 22h (10pm).

To say the time, use il est followed by a number and then heure(s)

It's three'o'clock
Il est trois heures
It's one'o'clock
Il est une heure

To say something like ten to eleven or quarter to five you should use moins (minus/less)

It's ten to eleven
Il est onze heures moins dix
(literally: It is eleven hours minus ten)
It's a quarter to five
Il est cinq heures moins le quart
(literally: It is five hours minus quarter)

To say something like it's ten PAST eleven simply put the number of minutes after the hour.

It's ten past eleven
Il est onze heures dix

Add an et when saying quarter past or half past

Quarter past one
Une heure et quart
Half past nine
Neuf heures et demie

More "time" vocabulary:

Midnight
Minuit
Midday/noon
Midi
Ten'o'clock at night
Dix heures du soir
Ten'o'clock in the morning
Dix heures du matin
Ten'o'clock, on the dot!
Dix heures, pile!

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Free French Lessons

Making things negative
My, your, his, her ...
Possession in nouns
The definite article
Quantities "some/any"
Communication issues
Talking about the weather
Telling the time
Days of the week
Talking about your family
Conversation fillers
Question words
Time concepts
Un, deux, trois ... French numbers

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Children's stories in French

Petit Poulet
Chicken Little
L'Oiseau et la Baleine
The Bird and the Whale
Les Trois Petits Cochons
The Three Little Pigs
Boucles d'or et les Trois Ours
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Le Petit Chaperon Rouge
Little Red Riding Hood
Le Vilain Caneton
The Ugly Duckling

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