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French Time and Date

This document provides information about telling time and dates in French. It introduces common time expressions like "Quelle heure est-il?" and explains how to read times using both 12-hour and 24-hour formats. It also covers days of the week, months, and standard date formats. Examples are given for asking the time, scheduling a meeting, and telling someone the date. Key vocabulary includes terms for periods of the day, seasons, and greetings for different times like "bonjour", "bonsoir", and "bonne nuit".

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JohnYadav
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
125 views

French Time and Date

This document provides information about telling time and dates in French. It introduces common time expressions like "Quelle heure est-il?" and explains how to read times using both 12-hour and 24-hour formats. It also covers days of the week, months, and standard date formats. Examples are given for asking the time, scheduling a meeting, and telling someone the date. Key vocabulary includes terms for periods of the day, seasons, and greetings for different times like "bonjour", "bonsoir", and "bonne nuit".

Uploaded by

JohnYadav
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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11.

Time and date


At the end of this chapter, you will be able to read and write time and date. You will also be able to
schedule a meeting and to catch a plane on time!

Quelle heure est-il?


"What time is it?" in French is "Quelle heure est-il?"
. Asking for time or answering this question is easy.
Most of the time, French people use a 24-hour time format. So, 1pm is rather 13 heures (treize heures).
Some examples:

Je vais au travail 7 heures.

Everyday, I go to my office at 7am.


J'ai un rendez-vous 15 heures.

I have a meeting at 3pm.


Time is written in a HHhMM format and a French day can be divided into 5 parts:
5h - 12h

le matin

orla matine

12h - 14h

le midi

14h - 18h

l'aprs-midi

18h - 23h

le soir

23h - 5h

la nuit

Sometimes, French use a 12-hour time format to insist on the time.

Je me lve 6 heures du matin.

I wake-up at 6 o'clock. (IT IS EARLY)


Je me couche 11 heures du soir.

I go to bed at 11pm. (IT IS LATE)


Let's answer the basic question: "Quelle heure est-il ?"...
Time

Pronounciation

8h

il est huit heures

8h07

il est huit heures sept

8h15

il est huit heures quinze

8h30

il est huit heures trente

8h35

il est huit heures trente cinq

8h45

il est huit heures quarante cinq

8h54

il est huit heures cinquante quatre

Current time, in Paris, is : "il est "


"Il est" is impersonal. Nobody is represented by "il", just like in English when you say "it is 8 o'clock".

Quel jour sommes-nous?


"What is today's date?" is said "Quel jour sommes-nous ?" .
Days of the week are the following. Note that monday is the first day of a French week (a week=une
semaine):
Days

Jours de la semaine

monday

lundi

tuesday

mardi

wednesday

mercredi

thursday

jeudi

friday

vendredi

saturday

samedi

sunday

dimanche

In French, samedi and dimanche are called "le week-end" ! It is pronounced the same as in English.
Here are the names of the months in French:
Months

Mois

january

janvier

february

fvrier

march

mars

april

avril

may

mai

june

juin

july

juillet

august

aot

september

septembre

october

octobre

november

novembre

december

dcembre

A complete date is built on this model:


day day# month year
For example, when we wrote this page the date was:
mercredi 10 novembre 1999
A particular case occurs on the first day of the month. French write: "samedi 1 er janvier 2000". "er" means
"premier" (first).
To the question "Quel jour sommes-nous ?", we could have answered:

nous sommes le mercredi 10 novembre 1999


or nous sommes le mercredi 10 novembre
or nous sommes le mercredi 10
or nous sommes le 10
or nous sommes mercredi

N.B.: Date is sometimes written DD/MM/YYYY. For example, November 2nd 1999 is written 02/11/1999
or 2/11/1999

Time and date examples


This page introduces useful examples and vocabulary around time and date concepts:

Quelle heure est-il ?

What time is it?


Il est seize heures vingt.

It is 4.20pm
Pourriez-vous me donner l'heure s'il vous plat ?

Could you please tell me the time ?


Quel jour sommes-nous ?
or Quelle est la date d'aujourd'hui ?

What is the date?


Aujourd'hui, nous sommes le 12 juillet 1998.
Today is the twelfth of july, 1998.
avant-hier
the day before
yesterday

hier

yesterday

une semaine (f)


a week

aujourd'hui

today

demain

tomorrow

aprs-demain
the day after
tomorrow

un jour (m)

a day
midi

midday
minuit

midnight
J'ai un rendez-vous 16 heures. (1)

I have a meeting at 4pm.


Je prend le train de 20h15.

I take the 8:15pm train.


une saison (f)

a season
le printemps (m)

spring
l't (m)

summer
l'automne (m)

autumn
l'hiver (m)
winter
(m)=masculine, (f)=feminine
(1) a "rendez-vous" is not only something romantic. It can also deal with business.

Bonjour or bonne journe?


Should I say bonjour, bonne journe, bonsoir, etc... when meeting/leaving someone ?
The table below gives the answer:
when meeting s.o.
in the morning
in the afternoon

bonne matine
bonjour

in the evening
at night

bon aprs-midi
bonne soire

bonsoir

Some examples:

Bonjour Maman, tu as bien dormi ?

Good morning Mum, did you sleep well?


Bonne journe monsieur Roland.

Have a good day Mr Roland.


Bonsoir! Comment allez-vous ?
Good evening! How are you doing?

when leaving s.o.

bonne nuit

Bonne nuit Antoine.


Good night Antoine.

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