Time and days in French
Now, later, tomorrow, what time it opens and one moment please. Play the ten French words against the clock, with a note on how locals really use each one after every answer. All ten are written out below.
All 10 French phrases in this lesson
- Maintenantmant-NAHN
- Now
- Plus tardploo TAR
- Later
- Aujourd'huioh-zhoor-DWEE
- Today
- Demainduh-MAN
- Tomorrow
- Ce soirsuh SWAHR
- Tonight
- Quand ?KAHN
- When?
- Ça ouvre à quelle heure ?sa OO-vruh ah kel UR
- What time does it open?
- Un instant, s'il vous plaîtuhn nan-STAHN, seel voo PLEH
- One moment, please
- Minutesmee-NEWT
- Minutes
- HeuresUR
- Hours
For something more immediate, "tout de suite" (too duh SWEET) means right away. A French appointment means the stated time; arriving at a dinner invitation ten or fifteen minutes late, on the other hand, is the polite default.
The s in "plus" is silent before a consonant, so plus tard is "ploo TAR." It comes back when plus stands alone meaning more: "j'en veux plus" is "zhahn vuh PLUES." Same word, two pronunciations, opposite meanings.
A fossil of a word: au jour d'hui already meant "on the day of today," so the modern phrase says today twice over. Nobody notices anymore.
"À demain" is see you tomorrow, and one of the most common ways to end a conversation. The day after tomorrow is après-demain.
Where French is spoken
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