I want to say it is 9:45, should I say il est neuf heures moins quart, or moins le quart.
if i want to say 9:48 or something...is it natural to say neuf heures quarante-huit or dix heures moins douze?
Salut autre fois! "Il est neuf heures moins le quart" is better. It depends upon whether you are using the 24-hour clock (like at train stations, etc.), AM or PM. For 9:48, however, when you get past the half hour = Il est dix heures moins douze."
Mme
thats right
To say "It is 9:45," you should say "Il est neuf heures moins quart" in French. "Moins quart" literally translates to "minus a quarter," indicating that it is 9:45, or 15 minutes until 10:00.
Now, if you want to say "It is 9:48," you could say "Il est neuf heures quarante-huit." This directly translates to "It is nine hours forty-eight." However, it is more common in French to use the expression "dix heures moins douze," which means "twelve minutes until ten." This way, you are referring to the next hour (10:00) while specifying that it is still a few minutes away.
Therefore, to summarize:
- 9:45 can be expressed as "neuf heures moins quart."
- 9:48 can be expressed as either "neuf heures quarante-huit" or "dix heures moins douze."