French Notes

à = at, to

This is the nice and easy part. The hard part is when à contracts with le and les. Check the notes below.

à + le contracts to au (to the, at the, masculine singular)
à + la stays at à la (to the, at the, feminine singular)
à + les contracts to aux (to the, at the, plural)
à + l’ stays at à l’ (to the, at the, singular and starts with a vowel)

to the park, at the park – au parc
to the store, at the store – au magasin

to the beach, at the beach – à la plage
to the pool, at the pool – à la piscine

to the grocery store, at the grocery store – à l’épicerie
to the church, at the church – à l’église

to the beacheS, at the beacheS – aux plages
to the schoolS, at the schoolS – aux écoles
to the restaurantS, at the restaurantS – aux restaurants

 The version of the possessive pronoun that you use (my – their) depends on the number and the gender of the possessed item.  
    For example;
My house – house is feminine – so one uses the feminine singular form of ‘my’ – ma maison
Our dad – dad is masculine – so one uses the masculine singular form of ‘our’ – notre père
Her truck – truck is masculine – so one uses the masculine singular form of ‘her’ – son camion
Your books – books are plural – so one uses the plural version of ‘your’ – tes livres

Quelle heure est – il? What time is it?
Il est quelle heure? – What time is it?

1. to answer, the “formula” is “il est # heures #of minutes

to say it is 3:08, one says il est trois heures huit
it is 4:25 = il est quatre heures vingt cinq
it is 9:10 = il est neuf heures dix
it is 1:20 = il est une heure vingt

2. special vocab
15 past the hour = et quart
il est 3 heures et quart = it is 3:15
il est 5 heures et quart = it is 5:15

30 past the hour = et demie
il est 4 heures et demie = it is 4:30
il est 7 heures et demie = it is 7:30

45 after or 15 til the next hour = next hour moins le quart
it is 5:45 = it is quarter to 6 = il est 6 heures moins le quart
it is 2:45 = it is quarter to 3 = il est 3 heures moins le quart
it is 8:45 = it is quarter to 9 = il est 9 heures moins le quart

3. past 30 minutes in an hour, one can say “minutes til the next hour” –
Ex. 5:50 = it’s ten ’til 6 = il est 6 heures moins 10
2:40 = it’s twenty ’til 3 = il est 3 heures moins 20
8:55 = it’s five ’til 9 = il est 9 heures moins 5

4. time of day vocab
in the morning = du matin
in the afternoon = de l’après-midi
at night = du soir
it’s 7a.m. = il est 7 heures du matin
it’s 4:30 p.m. = il est 4 heures et demie de l’après-midi
il est 4 heures 30 de l’après-midi
it’s 9:15 p.m. = il est 9 heures et quart du soir
il est 9 heures 15 du soir

5. more time vocab
yesterday – hier
today – au jourd’hui
tomorrow – demain
last night – hier soir
tonight – ce soir
this morning – ce matin
this afternoon – cet après-midi
late (in the day) – tard
late (to something) – en retard
early (in the day) – de bonne heure
early (to something) – en avance
on time – à l’heure