Question

In English, explain how the French use the 24 hour clock.

Answer 1

Well, if English is your mother language, it should be easy to describe what happens from midday to midnight.

Answer 2

Telling time in French is just a matter of knowing the French numbers and a few formulas and rules.
The French word for "time," as in "what time is it?" is l'heure, not le temps. The latter means time as in "I spent a lot of time there."

In English, we often leave out "o'clock" - it's perfectly fine to say "It's seven" or "I'm leaving at three-thirty." Not so in French - you always have to say heure (except with midi and minuit).

In French, the hour and minute are separated by h (for heure) where in English we use a colon :

French doesn't have words for "a.m." and "p.m." You can use du matin for a.m., de l'après-midi from noon until about 6 p.m., and du soir from 6 p.m. until midnight, but time is usually expressed on a 24-hour clock. Thus 3 p.m. is normally expressed as quinze heures or 15h00, but you can also say trois heures de l'après-midi.

Answer 3

There are 24 hours in a day. The French don't have words for 'a.m.' or 'p.m.' so they go by how many hours have passed. From what I know, they do not, however, use '24' they use '0:00' for midnight.