Day 9: Time & dates
Today you spend yesterday's numbers. Times and days are what you need to make plans, and they come back in Week 3 (train times) and Week 4 (the future tense).
1. What time is it?
| French | Respelling | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Quelle heure est-il ? | kell ur ay-TEEL | What time is it? |
| Vous avez l'heure ? | voo za-vay LUR | Got the time? (casual) |
| Il est ___ heure(s). | eel eh ___ UR | It's ___ o'clock |
| Time | French | Respelling |
|---|---|---|
| 1:00 | Il est une heure. | eel eh ew-NUR |
| 2:00 | Il est deux heures. | eel eh duh-ZUR |
| 3:15 | Il est trois heures et quart. | eel eh trwa zur ay KAR |
| 4:30 | Il est quatre heures et demie. | eel eh ka-truh zur ay duh-MEE |
| 5:45 | Il est six heures moins le quart. | eel eh see zur mwan luh KAR |
| 8:10 | Il est huit heures dix. | eel eh wee tur DEESS |
| noon | Il est midi. | eel eh mee-DEE |
| midnight | Il est minuit. | eel eh mee-NWEE |
★ et quart (quarter past) / et demie (half past) / moins le quart (quarter to) — these three cover most of what you need, and they map cleanly onto English.moins le quart subtracts from the next hour: 5:45 = "quarter to six", same as English.⚠️ But "half past" does not map. French et demie is literally "and a half" — you can never say the French equivalent of "half four" meaning 4:30.⚠️ The liaison into heures is compulsory: deux heures → duh-ZUR, trois heures → trwa-ZUR, huit heures → wee-TUR. The h is silent, so the number's dead final consonant jumps across and attaches.
Official times (trains, cinema) use the 24-hour clock and just read the numbers: 14h30 → quatorze heures trente (ka-torz ur TRAHNT)
⚠️ There is no am/pm. A French train at 19h00 is dix-neuf heures, never "seven pm".If you are American, this is the adjustment that costs you a train.Note the separator too: 14h30, not 14:30.
2. Parts of the day
| French | Respelling | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| le matin | luh ma-TAN | morning |
| l'après-midi | la-preh-mee-DEE | afternoon |
| le soir | luh SWAR | evening |
| la nuit | la NWEE | night |
| aujourd'hui | oh-zhoor-DWEE | today |
| demain | duh-MAN | tomorrow |
| hier | ee-YAIR | yesterday |
| maintenant | man-tuh-NAHN | now |
| ce soir | suh SWAR | this evening / tonight |
| demain matin | duh-man ma-TAN | tomorrow morning |
3. Days of the week — all lower case
| French | Respelling | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| lundi | luhn-DEE | Monday |
| mardi | mar-DEE | Tuesday |
| mercredi | mair-kruh-DEE | Wednesday |
| jeudi | zhuh-DEE | Thursday |
| vendredi | vahn-druh-DEE | Friday |
| samedi | sam-DEE | Saturday |
| dimanche | dee-MAHNSH | Sunday |
★ Monday to Friday all end in -di. Only samedi and dimanche need separate attention.
⚠️ Lower case, always. English capitalises Monday, French does not — and this is the single most frequent written error English speakers make in French. Same for months.⚠️ A French week starts on Monday. A French calendar's first column is lundi, so "the weekend" sits at the end where it belongs.
| Expression | Meaning |
|---|---|
| lundi | on Monday (this coming one) |
| le lundi | on Mondays (every week) |
| ce week-end | this weekend |
| la semaine prochaine | next week |
★ That one little le is the whole difference between "on Monday" and "on Mondays".English needs a plural -s to do the same job.
4. Months and dates
| French | Respelling | French | Respelling | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| janvier | zhahn-VYAY | juillet | zhwee-YEH | |
| février | fay-vree-YAY | août | oot | |
| mars | marss | septembre | sep-TAHM-bruh | |
| avril | a-VREEL | octobre | ok-TO-bruh | |
| mai | meh | novembre | no-VAHM-bruh | |
| juin | zhwan | décembre | day-SAHM-bruh |
The date formula: le + number + month
- 17 August → le dix-sept août (luh dee-set OOT)
- Only the 1st is different → le premier mai (luh pruh-myay MEH) — the 1st is the one ordinal; every other day is a plain number (le deux, not "le deuxième").
⚠️ ★ American readers: the day comes first. French writes 17/08, meaning 17 August — not 8 May. Get this wrong on a booking and you arrive three months late.British readers already have the right order.⚠️ No "of" and no "th". English says "the 17th of August"; French says le dix-sept août — nothing between the number and the month.
| French | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Quelle est la date aujourd'hui ? | What's the date today? |
| On est le combien ? | What's the date? (casual) |
| C'est quel jour ? | What day is it? |
5. Dialogue — making a plan
A: On se voit demain ? ohn suh vwa duh-MAN? Shall we meet tomorrow?B: Demain, c'est quel jour ? duh-MAN, seh kell ZHOOR? What day is tomorrow?A: C'est vendredi. seh vahn-druh-DEE.B: D'accord. À quelle heure ? da-KOR. a kell UR? OK. What time?A: À sept heures et demie, ce soir ? a set ur ay duh-MEE, suh SWAR? Half seven, this evening?B: Parfait ! À vendredi ! par-FEH! a vahn-druh-DEE! Perfect! See you Friday!
★ À + a time or day = "see you then" — À demain, À lundi, À bientôt. It is a complete goodbye on its own; English needs the whole "see you on…". ★ D'accord (da-KOR) = OK / agreed — one of the highest-frequency words in spoken French.
6. Exercises
A. Say the time in French. 1. 3:00 2. 6:30 3. 9:15 4. noon 5. 11:45
B. Fill in.
- Quelle ___ est-il ? (hour)
- Il ___ deux heures. (is)
- On se voit ___. (tomorrow)
- ___ vendredi ! (see you Friday)
C. Say it in French. 1. What's the date today? 2. See you tomorrow evening. 3. It's 17 August.
D. ⚠️ Fix the English-speaker error.
- Il est sept heures PM. 2. On se voit Lundi. 3. C'est le dix-septième août.
Answers
A. 1. Il est trois heures. 2. Il est six heures et demie. 3. Il est neuf heures et quart. 4. Il est midi. 5. Il est midi moins le quart (or Il est onze heures quarante-cinq). B. 1. heure 2. est 3. demain 4. À C. 1. Quelle est la date aujourd'hui ? 2. À demain soir. 3. C'est le dix-sept août. D. 1. No am/pm → Il est dix-neuf heures 2. lower case → lundi 3. only the 1st is an ordinal → le dix-sept août
7. Today's 10 sentences
- Quelle heure est-il ? — What time is it? (kell ur ay-TEEL)
- Il est trois heures. — It's 3 o'clock (eel eh trwa ZUR)
- Il est midi. — It's noon (eel eh mee-DEE)
- À quelle heure ? — At what time? (a kell UR)
- Aujourd'hui, c'est lundi. — Today is Monday (oh-zhoor-DWEE, seh luhn-DEE)
- Demain matin. — Tomorrow morning (duh-man ma-TAN)
- Ce soir. — This evening (suh SWAR)
- D'accord. — OK (da-KOR)
- À demain ! — See you tomorrow! (a duh-MAN)
- On se voit vendredi ? — Shall we meet Friday? (ohn suh vwa vahn-druh-DEE)
8. 📲 Upload to LangNote
The time table (1) + the days (3) + the dialogue (5).
| Mission | What to do with it today |
|---|---|
| ✍️ Dictation | Catch the liaisons (duh-ZUR, wee-TUR) — today's main mission |
| 🎭 Role-play | "Making plans with a friend" — settle on a day and a time |
| ❓ Quiz | Telling the time |
| 📖 Vocab | 7 days + 12 months |
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