How to Say "Set a Timer" in French

mettre un minuteur

To set a timer in French is mettre un minuteur.

The phrase is used to describe programming a device to count down a specific amount of time and alert the user when it finishes.

What does it mean word for word?

The phrase is composed of the verb mettre (to put/to set) and un minuteur (a timer).

While mettre un minuteur is very common, régler un minuteur is a more precise alternative meaning 'to adjust or regulate a timer'.

If you are giving a command to someone (e.g., 'Set a timer!'), you would use the imperative form mettez un minuteur for a polite or plural audience.

In French culinary culture, the minuteur is often associated with the term à la minute, meaning a dish prepared quickly and served immediately.
The French word minuteur comes from the Latin minuō, which means 'to make smaller' or 'to diminish'.
The suffix '-eur' in minuteur is a common French way to turn a verb or an adjective into a noun that represents a person or a machine that performs an action.

Veuillez régler une minuterie de 10 minutes, s'il vous plaît
Please set a timer for 10 minutes.
Veuillez régler une minuterie de 15 minutes, s'il vous plaît.
Please set a timer for 15 minutes.
Peux-tu mettre une alarme pour une demi-heure, s'il te plaît?
Can you set an alarm for half an hour, please?
Je vais mettre un minuteur pour les pâtes.
I am going to set a timer for the pasta.
Peux-tu mettre un minuteur de dix minutes ?
Can you set a ten-minute timer?
Il faut mettre un minuteur pour ne pas oublier.
We must set a timer so we don't forget.

In a kitchen while baking a cake.

Emma

Lucas, est-ce que tu peux mettre un minuteur ?
Lucas, can you set a timer?
Lucas

Oui, combien de temps faut-il ?
Yes, how much time is needed?
Emma

Mets un minuteur sur vingt minutes.
Set a timer for twenty minutes.
Lucas

C'est fait, Emma.
It is done, Emma.

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