Dictionary / French / What time is it?
How to Say "What time is it?" in French
Quelle heure est-il ?
/kɛl œʁ ɛ til/
Literally: What hour is it?
Quelle
what
heure
hour
est
is
il
it
Good to know
In casual conversation, you will often hear il est quelle heure ? To ask a stranger, say excusez-moi, vous avez l'heure ? (excuse me, do you have the time?). The answer starts with il est: il est trois heures.
Correct
Quelle heure est-il ?
What people say wrong
Quel temps est-il ?
An awkward way to ask about the weather
The mistake to avoid. Temps means time as in duration, and it also means weather. Heure is the time on the clock. So quel temps est-il sounds like a question about the weather, and an awkward one, since the usual way to ask is quel temps fait-il ? For the clock, always use heure.
In context
Excusez-moi, vous avez l'heure ?
Excuse me, do you have the time?
Il est quelle heure ? On va rater le train.
What time is it? We're going to miss the train.
Il est huit heures et demie.
It's half past eight.