Ask and tell the time in French

To ask what time it is in French, there are different options:

• Vous avez l’heure ? (to ask if you don’t know if the person you are talking to can give you the time)
• Quelle heure est-il ? (formal)
• Il est quelle heure ? (casual)

There are two different ways to tell the time:

• The formal way (professional appointments, medical appointments, airports, administrations…)
• The casual way (family, friends, colleagues…)

For each of these ways, your sentence will start with “Il est…”.

Example:

Il est 15h00 (formal).
Il est 3h00 (casual).