7:40 or Twenty to eight?

Question

Have I mistakenly learned that you can say either  "Il est sept heures quarante." or "Il est huit heures moins vingt." for ﻿"It is seven forty." or "It is twenty to eight."

Answer

Bonjour Beverley !
Just like in English, you can use either interchangeably, as their meaning is similar.

Answer

Thank you.  I questioned it because I used minutes past in one of the kwizzes instead of moins and it was marked wrong.  When I looked at the lesson it didn't mention minutes past.

Answer

Bonjour Beverley !
Could you clarify what you mean when you say "it didn't mention minutes past" in the lesson?I'd be happy to improve the lesson if needed, but I'm not sure what you meant by that :)

Answer

I did an A1 Kwiz and the question was to translate "It is quarter past nine."  My answer was "Il est neuf heures quinze."  That was marked wrong.  It said the answer should be "Il est neuf heures et quart."  I clicked on "Explain this" and it took me to a lesson called "Telling the time in French - simple."  Sorry, other minutes past were given as examples, but not quinze.  
My main concern was that the A1 question was marked wrong and the lesson/explanation didn't really explain why.  I am actually working at B2 level, but I continue to test myself regularly at other levels.  I was at 100% at A1 and that incorrect answer significantly lowered my percentage and it took a lot of effort to get it back to 100%.
It had also happened with moins, but I'm sorry, I can't trace that kwiz now as I can't remember the level.

Answer

I've just discovered, it was the same lesson.  In the minutes  past, it only goes as far as 25 past.  It then goes on to talk about moins.  Perhaps a little addition to the minutes past might help.  However, it would still help if I had an explanation of why "IL est neuf heures quinze" was incorrect.

Answer

Bonjour Beverley !
Thank you for this clear response :)
The answer is actually that when it comes specifically to "15" minutes, you will always really use "et quart" in French, quite similarly to English when you wouldn't really say "it's fifteen past two" but rather "it's quarter past two".For all other minutes, it works as in English :)
Would you find it useful to add this precision to the main lesson?
Cordialement

Answer

Yes please.  Thank you for your time.