French Time Expressions

Understanding Time Expressions

A time expression signifies when something happens, how often it happens, or the duration for which it happens.
In French, time expressions can relate to a specific time of day, a day of the week, a month of the year, or relative times like ‘now’, ‘later’, ‘before’, and ‘after’.
You can use a time expression by itself, as an answer to a question, or you can incorporate it into a sentence: ‘Je vais à la plage le samedi’ (I go to the beach on Saturdays).

To express the time of day in French, use ‘Il est’ + the hour + ‘heures’: ‘Il est deux heures’ (It’s 2 o’clock).
Use ‘et quart’ for quarter past, ‘et demie’ for half past, and ‘moins le quart’ for quarter to.
French uses the 24-hour system, so ‘Il est quinze heures’ translates to ‘It’s 3 pm’.

Days of the week are all masculine, while months of the year are all masculine too but they are not typically preceded by an article: ‘Je vais au marché le samedi’ (I go to the market on Saturday)
However, if you want to say ‘in a certain month’, you use ‘en’ before the month: ‘Je vais à Paris en juillet’ (I’m going to Paris in July).

Words such as ‘maintenant’ (now), ‘tôt’ (early), ‘tard’ (late), ‘avant’ (before), ‘après’ (after), ‘pendant’ (during) are used to denote relative time.
The phrase ‘il y a’ is used to express ‘ago’, as in ‘Il y a deux heures, je suis arrivé’ (I arrived two hours ago).

To express frequency, use ‘tous les’ (every) or ‘fois par’ (times per): ‘Je vais au cinéma tous les week-ends’ (I go to the cinema every weekend), ‘Je l’appelle trois fois par semaine’ (I call her three times a week).
To express duration, use ‘depuis’ (since/for), ‘pendant’ (during/for) or ‘dans’ (in): ‘Je travaille ici depuis cinq ans’ (I have been working here for five years).

To express an action that will take place in the future, use ‘dans’+ time: ‘Je finirai le projet dans deux jours’ (I will finish the project in two days).
To express an action that took place in the past, use ‘il y a’+ time: ‘J’ai déménagé il y a trois ans’ (I moved three years ago).

Remember, practice makes perfect. Try to incorporate these expressions into your daily French conversation to make them second nature.