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How to Say ‘It is half past four.’ in French

Il est quatre heures et demie.

eel eh ka-tr uhr eh duh-MEE

[eel eh ka-tr uhr eh duh-MEE]

Phrase Breakdown

Il est quatre heures

eel eh ka-tr uhr

It is four o'clock

'Quatre heures' flows together as 'ka-treur'.

Example

Il est quatre heures, on part.

It's four o'clock, let's go.

Words in this phrase

[eel]

Part of the expression Il y a, meaning 'there is/there are'.

Example

Il y a souvent des bouchons le matin.

There are often traffic jams in the morning.

est

[eh]

Third person singular present of be.

Example

C'est important.

It is important.

quatre

[ka-tr]

Four

The number 4.

Example

Ils commencent l'attaque à quatre heures.

They start the attack at four o'clock.

heures

[uhr]

o'clock / hours

Used after a number to tell the time in French.

Example

Dans « Pour 20 heures. », « heures » indique qu'on parle de l'heure.

In “Pour 20 heures.”, “heures” shows that we are talking about time.

et demie.

eh duh-MEE

and a half

Means 'half past'. Say it as 'ay duh-mee'.

Example

Il est une heure et demie.

It is half past one.

Words in this phrase

[eh]

and

Joins two thoughts or questions together.

Example

Et vous êtes venu aussi?

And did you come too?

demie

[duh-MEE]

half

Half an hour past; feminine because it agrees with 'heure'.

Example

Il est midi et demie.

It is half past twelve.

Guides for French learners

Ordering in French: Cafés, Bakeries and Restaurants (with Menu Vocabulary)How to order in French at a café, a bakery and a restaurant: the phrases, the questions staff ask, and the menu and food vocabulary to understand the answers.Hello in French: Greetings, Good Evening and How to Answer "How Are You?"How to say hello in French, when to switch to good evening, how to ask how are you and what to answer, with tu vs vous and native audio.

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