Learn French: Il est trois heures. - It is three o'clock.

When telling the time in French, we always use the impersonal phrase Il est. Even though you might have learned C'est for 'it is' in other contexts, time is a strict exception where only Il est is correct.

Wait, the word heure is feminine. Shouldn't we say Elle est?

Good question! The Il in Il est doesn't actually refer to the word heure. It is a generic, impersonal 'it', just like when we say 'It is raining' in English. Because of this, it always stays Il est, no matter what time it is.

Why does this sentence use heures instead of a word for 'o'clock'?

In French, there is no direct equivalent to 'o'clock'. Instead, you literally say 'It is three hours'. The word heure means 'hour', and it is required every time you tell the time. In English we can say 'It is three', but in French you cannot just say Il est trois.

Is there a special pronunciation rule between trois and heures?

Yes! Normally, the 's' at the end of trois is silent. But because heures starts with a silent 'h' and a vowel sound, you must make a spoken link between them (called a liaison). You pronounce the 's' like a 'z' sound, smoothly connecting the two words to sound like 'trwa-ZUR'.