List 4 - Times and dates

Languages.Org.Au HomeFrenchFrench Language → Times and dates

In your travels and during your stay in any French-speaking setting, it will be very helpful if you can understand and talk about times and dates.

Talking about the time

There is an informal and a formal way to talk about the time in French. Basically, the informal one is like conversational English - "half past two" etc. In formal language, the French use the 24-hour clock and therefore there is no need for "am", "pm", "in the evening" or other expressions when discussing timetables etc. Official times in French, including school and transport schedules, as well as business and office opening times, are normally given using formal times.
l'heure the time
quelle heure est-il? what time is it?
il est une heure it's one o'clock
il est deux heures (note the "s" for plural) it's two o'clock
il est deux heures et quart it's a quarter past two
il est deux heures et demie it's half past two
il est trois heures moins le quart it's a quarter to three
à sept heures du matin at seven in the morning
à quatre heures de l'après-midi at four in the afternoon
à six heures du soir at six in the evening
quatorze heures (14h) 2 pm (formal time on 24 hour clock)
dix-sept heures (17h) 5 pm (formal time on 24 hour clock)
le matin

morning

l'après-midi afternoon
le soir evening
la soirée (eg "une soirée au restaurant" evening viewed as a period of time containing events etc (eg "an evening at the restaurant")

Talking about the date

Except for the first of the month, French just uses the number for the date (eg "two, three"), not its ordinal form "second", "third". So you say "le premier septembre", but the next day is "le deux septembre" and the last day of the year is "le trente et un décembre. See List 1 for the numbers in French. Another contrast with English: the days and months are written with a lower case initial letter in French (eg lundi = Monday).
le jour day janvier January
la semaine week février February
le mois month mars March
l'an / l'année year avril April
lundi Monday mai May
mardi Tuesday juin June
mercredi Wednesday juillet July
jeudi Thursday août August
vendredi Friday septembre September
samedi Saturday octobre October
dimanche Sunday novembre November
    décembre December

The seasons - les saisons

l'été / en été summer / in summer
l'automne / en automne autumn / in autumn
l'hiver / en hiver winter / in winter
printemps / au printemps spring / in spring

Daily routine - la routine quotidienne / le quotidien

Many verbs relating to daily routine are reflexive verbs (des verbes pronominaux) in French. Any action done to oneself (such as washing hands, brushing teeth) is in this category. Also reflexive are actions such as getting up, as opposed to raising something (contrast se lever - to get up; lever la main - to raise one's hand).
aller au lit to go to bed
balayer to sweep
se brosser les cheveux/les dents to brush one's hair/teeth
se coucher to go to bed
faire la lessive to do the washing (laundry)
faire la vaisselle to do the washing up
s'habiller to get dressed
se laver les mains to wash one's hands
se lever to get up
se macquiller to put on make-up
passer l'aspirateur to do the vaccuuming
prendre une douche to take a shower / have a shower
prendre le petit déjeuner / le déjeuner (prendre le repas de midi) / le dîner to have breakfast / lunch / dinner (note the use of "take" not "have" in French)
quitter la maison to leave the house
regarder la télé to watch tv
passer l'aspirateur to do the vaccuuming
se réveiller to wake up

Expressions of time

un an a year
après after
l'après-midi afternoon
aujourd'hui today
avant before
demain tomorrow
de temps en temps from time to time
ensuite next
hier yesterday
le lendemain the next day
maintenant now
le matin morning
le mois month
(et) puis (and) then
quelquefois sometimes
la semaine week
le soir evening
souvent often
la veille the day before
Note that when the contents of a time period are implied, the word for it may change:
un an - une année
un jour - une journée
un matin - une matinée

Last updated

© Languages.Org.Au