Does French use am and pm?

No. There's no French version of the abbreviations. Either the context makes the hour obvious and nothing is added, or you specify the part of the day: sept heures du matin, sept heures du soir. In writing, French uses the twenty-four-hour clock instead.

How do you say 1 pm in French?

Une heure de l'après-midi in speech, or treize heures in writing and in anything official. Note the singular: une heure, because it's one hour. In the twenty-four-hour clock the same time is written 13 h.

Neither, and that's the point. Midi is noon and minuit is midnight, each with its own noun, so French never has to decide whether twelve belongs to the morning or the afternoon. Both take à and no qualifier: à midi, à minuit.

Do I always need to say du matin or du soir?

No, and adding it every time sounds laboured. French leaves it out whenever context settles the question: je commence à huit heures obviously means the morning if you're talking about work. Add the phrase only when the sentence would otherwise be genuinely ambiguous.

How do you write 8:30 pm in French?

20 h 30, with a space on either side of the h. French uses the letter h where English uses a colon, and it counts past twelve rather than restarting: 13 h for 1 pm, 20 h for 8 pm, 0 h 30 for half past midnight.

French grammar · Beginner

Am and Pm in French: Du Matin, Du Soir, and the 24-Hour Clock

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

French has no equivalent of am and pm. When the hour could be misread, it adds du matin, de l'après-midi, du soir, or de la nuit after the time. In writing, and in anything official, it switches to the twenty-four-hour clock instead: 7 h for 7 am and 19 h for 7 pm.

Le vol part à sept heures du matin et arrive à huit heures du soir.

The flight leaves at 7 am and lands at 8 pm.

What it is

English disambiguates the clock with two Latin abbreviations tacked onto the number. French has nothing equivalent, so it does one of two things instead: it names the part of the day in a prepositional phrase after the time, or it counts the hours up to twenty-three and removes the ambiguity altogether.

trois heures du matin / trois heures de l'après-midi / 3 h / 15 h — 3 am, 3 pm, and the same two times written officially.

How to spot it

Ask whether the context already makes the hour obvious. If it does, French adds nothing at all. If it doesn't, either name the part of the day or move to the twenty-four-hour clock, never both.

à six heures du matin — at 6 am
à deux heures de l'après-midi — at 2 pm
à neuf heures du soir — at 9 pm
à 21 h — at 9 pm (written)

The phrase always keeps its article: du matin, du soir, de la nuit, and de l'après-midi, because après-midi begins with a vowel.

Telling Time: AM and PM Quick Reference

Every pm hour, both ways

English	Twelve-hour French	Twenty-four-hour
6 am	six heures du matin	6 h
11 am	onze heures du matin	11 h
12 pm (noon)	midi	12 h
1 pm	une heure de l'après-midi	13 h
4:30 pm	quatre heures et demie de l'après-midi	16 h 30
8 pm	huit heures du soir	20 h
11:45 pm	minuit moins le quart	23 h 45
12 am (midnight)	minuit	0 h

Common Telling Time: AM and PM Examples in French

The four parts of the day, and the written clock that replaces them:

Morning Hours

Je me lève à six heures du matin.: I get up at 6 am.
Le train de huit heures du matin est complet.: The 8 am train is full.
Il m'a appelé à deux heures du matin.: He called me at 2 am.
La boulangerie ouvre à sept heures.: The bakery opens at seven.

Du matin covers everything from one in the morning to eleven, including the small hours that English calls the middle of the night.

Afternoon and Evening

Le rendez-vous est à trois heures de l'après-midi.: The appointment is at 3 pm.
On dîne à huit heures du soir.: We have dinner at 8 pm.
Le film commence à dix heures du soir.: The film starts at 10 pm.
Elle travaille jusqu'à cinq heures de l'après-midi.: She works until 5 pm.

The switch from après-midi to soir happens around six o'clock, and it follows daylight and dinner rather than a fixed rule.

Noon and Midnight

Le magasin ferme à midi.: The shop closes at midday.
On se retrouve à midi et demi.: We're meeting at half past twelve.
Le dernier métro passe à minuit.: The last metro comes at midnight.
Il est rentré à minuit passé.: He got home after midnight.

Midi and minuit are unambiguous by definition, so they never take du matin or du soir.

The Written Clock

Ouvert de 9 h à 19 h.: Open 9 am to 7 pm.
Départ à 22 h 15.: Departure at 10:15 pm.
Réunion à 14 h.: Meeting at 2 pm.
Arrivée prévue à 0 h 40.: Expected arrival at 12:40 am.

French writes the h where English writes a colon, with a space on each side: 14 h 30, not 14:30.

How French Handles Am and Pm

There are only two strategies, and the main skill is knowing when neither is needed.

The Qualifier Is a Phrase, Not a Label

Du matin and du soir are ordinary prepositional phrases meaning of the morning and of the evening, so they follow the whole time expression and keep their articles. They aren't abbreviations and they're never written in initials.

Il est arrivé à onze heures et quart du soir.

He arrived at 11:15 pm.

time + du matin / du soir.

Four Phrases Cover the Day

Du matin runs from one in the morning to eleven, de l'après-midi from one to about six, du soir from about six to eleven, and de la nuit is an emphatic alternative for the small hours.

Elle a fini à trois heures de la nuit.

She finished at three in the morning.

matin, après-midi, soir, nuit.

Midi and Minuit Need Nothing

Twelve o'clock has its own noun in each direction, so the ambiguity English solves with 12 pm and 12 am doesn't arise. Douze heures exists but sounds like a logbook.

Le service est fermé entre midi et deux.

The service is closed between twelve and two.

midi = noon, minuit = midnight.

The Twenty-Four-Hour Clock Removes the Problem

Add twelve to any afternoon or evening hour and the ambiguity disappears. This is the default in timetables, tickets, opening hours, invitations, and text messages arranging a time.

Le concert commence à 20 h 30.

The concert starts at 8:30 pm.

13 h to 23 h for the afternoon and evening.

Never Use Both at Once

Once the hour is above twelve it already tells you which part of the day it is, so adding du soir repeats information. The two systems are alternatives, not layers.

Rendez-vous à 19 h, ou à sept heures du soir.

Meeting at 7 pm, or at seven in the evening.

19 h or sept heures du soir, not both.

Common Mistakes with Telling Time: AM and PM

Incorrect: Il est huit heures a.m. — It's 8 am.

Correct: Il est huit heures du matin. — It's 8 am.

The abbreviations don't exist in French. The equivalent information is carried by a prepositional phrase, or by writing 8 h.

Incorrect: Le déjeuner est à douze heures p.m. — Lunch is at 12 pm.

Correct: Le déjeuner est à midi. — Lunch is at noon.

French has a dedicated word for noon, so the whole 12 am and 12 pm problem never arises. Minuit does the same job at the other end.

Incorrect: La séance commence à vingt heures du soir. — The screening starts at 8 pm.

Correct: La séance commence à vingt heures. — The screening starts at 8 pm.

Vingt heures can only be the evening, so du soir adds nothing. Use one system or the other.

Incorrect: Le bébé s'est réveillé à une heure du soir. — The baby woke up at 1 am.

Correct: Le bébé s'est réveillé à une heure du matin. — The baby woke up at 1 am.

In French the morning starts straight after midnight, so one o'clock in the night is une heure du matin. Du soir would put it in the middle of the afternoon.

Where the Parts of the Day Begin and End

The boundaries aren't legislated, and knowing roughly where they fall is what makes the phrases sound natural.

The four windows

Matin ends at midday, après-midi stretches from midday to dusk, soir covers the evening, and nuit belongs to the hours when people are asleep.

une heure du matin: 1 am
onze heures du matin: 11 am
six heures de l'après-midi: 6 pm
onze heures du soir: 11 pm

Between six and eight in the evening, French speakers vary between après-midi and soir, and both sound fine.

Opening hours and timetables

Anything printed uses the twenty-four-hour clock, and ranges are framed with de… à or entre… et.

Ouvert du mardi au samedi, de 10 h à 18 h.: Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 am to 6 pm.
Fermé entre 12 h 30 et 14 h.: Closed between 12:30 and 2 pm.
Dernier service à 21 h 45.: Last service at 9:45 pm.

The abbreviation is h with no full stop, and typographically it takes a space on each side: 18 h 30. The compressed 18h30 is normal in text messages.

Naming a part of the day instead of an hour

Often the easiest way round the problem is to skip the clock and use the demonstrative form of the period.

Je te rappelle cet après-midi.: I'll call you back this afternoon.
On sort ce soir ?: Shall we go out this evening?
Il a mal dormi cette nuit.: He slept badly last night.
Dans la matinée, si possible.: Sometime this morning, if possible.

Matin and matinée differ: matin is the point, matinée the stretch. Dans la matinée means at some point during the morning.

Telling Time: AM and PM FAQs

Does French use am and pm?: No. There's no French version of the abbreviations. Either the context makes the hour obvious and nothing is added, or you specify the part of the day: sept heures du matin, sept heures du soir. In writing, French uses the twenty-four-hour clock instead.
How do you say 1 pm in French?: Une heure de l'après-midi in speech, or treize heures in writing and in anything official. Note the singular: une heure, because it's one hour. In the twenty-four-hour clock the same time is written 13 h.
Is midi am or pm?: Neither, and that's the point. Midi is noon and minuit is midnight, each with its own noun, so French never has to decide whether twelve belongs to the morning or the afternoon. Both take à and no qualifier: à midi, à minuit.
Do I always need to say du matin or du soir?: No, and adding it every time sounds laboured. French leaves it out whenever context settles the question: je commence à huit heures obviously means the morning if you're talking about work. Add the phrase only when the sentence would otherwise be genuinely ambiguous.
How do you write 8:30 pm in French?: 20 h 30, with a space on either side of the h. French uses the letter h where English uses a colon, and it counts past twelve rather than restarting: 13 h for 1 pm, 20 h for 8 pm, 0 h 30 for half past midnight.