Time expressions (e.g. telling the time, days, days of the week, months, seasons)

Cambridge IGCSE French 0520 – Everyday Activities

Time Expressions

In French, telling the time is like navigating a city map – you need to know the landmarks (hours) and the streets (minutes). Let’s explore how to read and ask for time. 🕒

1. Understand the 24‑hour clock: French uses both 12‑hour and 24‑hour formats. 13:00 is “treize heures” (1 p.m.).
2. Learn common phrases:
   • Il est heure(s) – It is hour(s).
   • Il est minutes – It is minutes.
   • Il est et quart – It is and a quarter (15 minutes past).
   • Il est moins le quart – It is quarter to (15 minutes to).
3. Practice asking for time: “Quelle heure est‑ce‑que ?” (What time is it?)
4. Use analogies: Think of the clock face as a circle of 12 slices. Each slice is 5 minutes. When the minute hand points to the 3, it’s 15 minutes past the hour.

Days of the Week

Days are the building blocks of your weekly routine. Remember the order: Monday is the first day, Sunday is the last. ???

• Lundi (Monday)
• Mardi (Tuesday)
• Mercredi (Wednesday)
• Jeudi (Thursday)
• Vendredi (Friday)
• Samedi (Saturday)
• Dimanche (Sunday)

Months and Seasons

Months are like chapters in a book; each season brings its own flavor. 🌞❄️

Practical Activities

Practice makes perfect! Try these everyday tasks to reinforce your time vocabulary. 🚀

• Write a diary entry: “Aujourd’hui, je me suis réveillé à six heures.”
• Ask a friend what time they will arrive: “À quelle heure arrives‑tu ?”
• Plan a week: list your activities for each day of the week.
• Match months to seasons: draw a line from each month to its season.
• Use a digital clock to practice reading times in both 12‑hour and 24‑hour formats.

Examination Tips

Tip 1: When asked to tell the time, always start with “Il est” followed by the hour and minutes.
Tip 2: Remember that “et quart” means 15 minutes past, and “moins le quart” means 15 minutes to.
Tip 3: For days of the week, practice the order Lundi → Dimanche; it’s a useful memory trick.
Tip 4: In written tasks, use the correct accents (e.g., février, hiver).
Tip 5: When describing a schedule, use “à” for specific times (e.g., “à trois heures”) and “entre” for ranges (e.g., “entre deux et quatre heures”).