Hey, did you know “pedant” comes from the Italian “ pedante,” derived from the Latin “paedogogus?” Oh no, I did it again! It’s not even old-fashioned yet and you should be ready to understand it, even if you choose not to use it yourself.Īnd as tempting as it was to add a lecture on the Latin origin of meridiem, I’m all about self-control and will keep my sophisticated pedantism in check. Now that being said, there are still MANY people using the twelve-hour system. Let’s see what the twenty-four-hour system looks like: Now, if you also consider that AM (which stands for “Ante Meridiem,” as opposed to “Post Meridiem”) could possibly be the abbreviation for après-midi (French for “afternoon”), you’ll understand why it’s losing in popularity. (“It is 8 PM” or “It is eight hours in the evening.”)ĭealing with twelve hours makes it easily confusing when you’re talking to someone from the same time zone, but it gets ridiculous with globalization and our tendency to communicate and schedule events with people from all around the world. (“It is 5 PM” or “It is five hours in the afternoon.”) (“It is 5 AM” or literally “It is five hours in the morning.”) The twelve-hour system used to be popular in northern Europe, but nowadays, it’s slowly losing the battle against the objectively superior twenty-four-hour system. AM or PM?įrequently asked question: Should I use the twelve- or twenty-four-hour system in French?Īnswer: As you wish! (But there is a twist.) → You’ll find these words, as well as the numbers, in our free vocabulary list on Talking about Time with audio recordings to practice your pronunciation! In most cases, when the number of minutes closely follows the hour, like above, you can omit the word minutes (“minutes”). Cinq heures vingt (“five hours twenty minutes”).So, what happens when you combine these words with numbers?Īnd here’s a glimpse of how to tell time in French with minutes, though we’ll go more into this later. → Learn how to count from 0 to infinity with our complete guide on French Numbers. However, I would say that counting up to 12 is an absolute minimum, so just in case, let’s review this quickly: 1. At the minimum, you need to be able to count up to fifty-nine, but don’t worry if you can’t do that yet-we also have some magic words to save you the trouble! Obviously, to give the time in French, you’ll have to be in the clear about numbers. Time Unitsīefore we get to the juicy part, let’s talk vocabulary for a moment. “Excuse me, do you have the time, please?” 2. Excusez-moi, est-ce que vous avez l’heure, s’il vous plaît ?. ![]() These translate to “Do you have the time?”Īnd of course, if you’re asking some stranger in the street or anyone you’re not yet familiar with, don’t forget to add some honey by starting with a polite Excusez-moi (“Excuse me”), and maybe a nice s’il vous plaît (“please”) at the end! Let’s have a look at other popular alternatives: Indeed, this is the formal sentence that most French lessons teach you, but there are several other ways you can ask (or be asked) for the time:īoth of these phrases mean “What time is it?” If you have some experience with polite sentences, you may have noticed the inverted subject ( est-il instead of il est). As you can expect, there isn’t only one way of asking about time in French, but the most popular, by far, is: And in the process, you’ll learn how to ask for the time yourself. Le temps presse ! (“Time is of the essence!”)īefore you learn how to tell the time in French, you’ll need to understand when someone is asking you for it. How FrenchPod101 Can Help You Learn More French.Expressions and Proverbs about Time in French.In this article, you’ll learn everything about telling the time in French, from the units to the AM / PM system, common questions & answers, and much more! Table of Contents You’ll have to know the basic vocabulary for “hour” or “minutes” in French, some numbers, and a variety of valuable time-related phrases and keywords. ![]() ![]() ![]() Whether you want to talk about your day, plan something, talk about schedules, or just answer someone on the street asking you for the time, learning about telling time in French is essential. Do you sometimes get the impression that time is flying away, riding a winged clock out of your reach, or is it just me? Flying or not, time is the single most precious thing we have, and being able to discuss it will prove useful within your first few days in France.
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