Telling time in French

Question

Why is "quinze heures et quart" wrong for 3.15 pm

Accepted Answer

Hi Kay,
It does say in the lesson that -
"you don't use 'et quart' , 'et demie' and 'moins le quart' with the 24 hour clock but you use quinze, trente and quarante-cinq "
so it is :
quinze heures quinze 
Bonne Continuation!

Answer

It is just the way it is said in France - il est quinze heures quinze. It may be for phonetic or elegance reasons as per the description in the lesson, or could also reflect the fact that 24 hour time is used exclusively ('military time') in many areas where precision and lack of any ambiguity is required with time  signalling - expressing the precise minutes and only expressing them as time after the hour gives much less risk of misinterpretation in those fields.

Answer

Quinze heures is military style and quart is colloquial. Never the twain shall meet.