Learn how to ask what time it is and how to discuss different scenarios regarding time
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Sam: You Have No More Excuses! In this lesson, you’ll learn how to tell time. |
| Celine: The conversation is between Emile and his secretary during the day. |
| Sam: The speakers will be speaking formally. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Female: Monsieur aujourd’hui vous êtes très occupé. |
| Male: Quelle heure est-il? |
| Female: Tard. Il est 6h45 du matin. Vous avez un petit déjeuner avec Nicolas Sarkozy et Carla Bruni à 7h30, une présentation à la convention “funky stratégie” à 2h40 de l’après-midi et un dîner d’affaires à 8h30 le soir. |
| Male: Ah, j’ai sommeil! |
| Sam: One more time, slowly. |
| Male: Encore une fois, lentement. |
| Female: Monsieur aujourd’hui vous êtes très occupé. |
| Male: Quelle heure est-il? |
| Female: Tard. Il est 6h45 du matin. Vous avez un petit déjeuner avec Nicolas Sarkozy et Carla Bruni à 7h30, une présentation à la convention “funky stratégie” à 2h40 de l’après-midi et un dîner d’affaires à 8h30 le soir. |
| Male: Ah, j’ai sommeil! |
| Sam: One more time with the English. |
| Male: Encore une fois avec l’anglais. |
| Female: Monsieur aujourd’hui vous êtes très occupé. |
| Sam: Sir, today you are very busy. |
| Male: Quelle heure est-il? |
| Sam: What time is it? |
| Female: Tard. Il est 6h45 du matin. Vous avez un petit déjeuner avec Nicolas Sarkozy et Carla Bruni à 7h30, une présentation à la convention “funky stratégie” à 2h40 de l’après-midi et un dîner d’affaires à 8h30 le soir. |
| Sam: Late, it’s 6:45 AM. You have breakfast with Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni at 7:30, a presentation of the funky strategies convention at 3:00 in the afternoon, and a business dinner at 6:30 in the evening. |
| Male: Ah, j’ai sommeil! |
| Sam: I’m sleepy. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Sam: Hey, guys, I have a question. In France, is it okay for the boss to be late? |
| Christophe: Sure. |
| Celine: Of course, it is. |
| Christophe: I mean, he’s the boss. |
| Sam: Can you scold him or her? Can you scold your boss for being… |
| Christophe: You can try to make a joke but… |
| Sam: You might get sacked. |
| Celine: Maybe. But there’s a strong hiérarchie in France. |
| Sam: Hierarchy? |
| Celine: Yeah, in French companies. So I mean, the boss is the boss. |
| Christophe: Yes. |
| Celine: That’s why it’s good to be the boss. |
| Christophe: Yes. |
| Sam: Sounds interesting. So the boss can be late but you can’t. |
| Celine: You cannot. You know that’s really interesting because in Toulouse, and only in Toulouse, I have to mention that, we have something we called le quart d’heure Toulousain. |
| Sam: What’s that? |
| Celine: It means the 15 minutes from Toulouse. |
| Sam: The Toulouse 15 minutes. |
| Celine: Yeah. It’s like you came delayed for 15 minutes, everybody is going to forgive you. |
| Sam: Oh. |
| Celine: Have you heard about that, Christophe? |
| Christophe: Yes. |
| Celine: A-ha. |
| Sam: What about 30 minutes? No? |
| Celine: I said 15 minutes. You know, that’s so American. You always want more and more and more. |
| Sam: No, no. |
| Celine: Let’s go to the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Sam: Okay. The first item is… |
| Christophe: occupé. [natural native speed] |
| Sam: Busy. |
| Christophe: occupé. [slowly - broken down by syllable] occupé. [natural native speed] |
| Sam: Next… |
| Celine: très. [natural native speed] |
| Sam: Very. |
| Celine: très. [slowly - broken down by syllable] très. [natural native speed] |
| Sam: Next… |
| Christophe: Heure [natural native speed] |
| Sam: Hour. |
| Christophe: heure. [slowly - broken down by syllable] heure. [natural native speed] |
| Sam: Next… |
| Celine: Tard. [natural native speed] |
| Sam: Late. |
| Celine: tard. [slowly - broken down by syllable] tard. [natural native speed] |
| Sam: Next… |
| Christophe: Petit déjeuner. [natural native speed] |
| Sam: Breakfast. |
| Christophe: Petit déjeuner. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Petit déjeuner. [natural native speed] |
| Sam: Next… |
| Celine: Présentation. [natural native speed] |
| Sam: Presentation. |
| Celine: Présentation. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Présentation. [natural native speed] |
| Sam: Next… |
| Christophe: Convention. [natural native speed] |
| Sam: Symposium. |
| Christophe: Convention. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Convention. [natural native speed] |
| Sam: Next… |
| Celine: Après-midi. [natural native speed] |
| Sam: Afternoon. |
| Celine: Après-midi. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Après-midi. [natural native speed] |
| Sam: next… |
| Christophe: Dîner d'affaires. [natural native speed] |
| Sam: Business dinner. |
| Christophe: Dîner d'affaires. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Dîner d’affaires. [natural native speed] |
| Sam: Next… |
| Celine: Soir. [natural native speed] |
| Sam: Evening. |
| Celine: Soir. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Soir. [natural native speed] |
| Sam: Next… |
| Christophe: Avoir sommeil. [natural native speed] |
| Sam: To be sleepy. |
| Christophe: Avoir sommeil. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Avoir sommeil. [natural native speed] |
| Sam: Next… |
| Celine: Avec. [natural native speed] |
| Sam: With. |
| Celine: Avec. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Avec. [natural native speed] |
| Celine: We have so many words today, right Sam? |
| Sam: A lot of exciting words. |
| Celine: Exciting? |
| Sam: Yes. |
| Celine: So show me. |
| Sam: Like occupé(e). |
| Celine: Oh, okay. It means “busy.” |
| Sam: Yeah. |
| Christophe: Yes. |
| Celine: Okay. So an example? |
| Christophe: Je suis occupé demain, “I’m busy tomorrow.” |
| Sam: Moi aussi. |
| Celine: Toi aussi? Oh, you’re as busy as Emile. |
| Sam: Maybe busier. |
| Celine: So you can also say “Les toilettes sont occupées?”, “are the restrooms taken?” |
| Sam: Oh, no, that’s a bad thing. You don’t want the restrooms to be busy. |
| Celine: No. You want them to be “libre”. |
| Sam: Of course! |
| Christophe: Yes. |
| Celine: Available. |
| Sam: Yes. I’ll make sure to learn both those words. |
| Celine: Oui. |
| Christophe: Oui. |
| Celine: So next word is très. |
| Christophe: Its English equivalent is “very.” Très is an adverb clarifying an adjective of verb or another adverb. |
| Sam: Okay. For example… |
| Celine: Je suis très belle. “I’m very beautiful.” très is linked to the adjective “belle.” |
| Christophe: Did you ask the question to your mirror, Celine? |
| Sam: It just fell over, I think. |
| Celine: Alors là c’est pas gentil. No, it’s not nice at all. I’m the one who gives examples. I’m not going to say je suis laide, “I’m ugly.” |
| Christophe: Why not? |
| Celine: Because I’m not. |
| Christophe: It’s just an example. |
| Celine: Okay, let’s move on to the next word. |
| Sam: One of my favorites, petit déjeuner – breakfast. Pancakes, bacon, scrambled. |
| Christophe: No, no, no, no, no. |
| Celine: Oh, yes. I love American breakfast. That’s the only thing I love about American. |
| Christophe: Tartines! |
| Celine: No, no. Bacon, eggs… |
| Sam: Eggs, sausage, with syrup over everything. |
| Celine: Oh, non. Là t’exagères. |
| Christophe: Marmelade? |
| Celine: So this is a masculine noun. Notice déjeuner refers also to “lunch.” So if you have a blank about the French word breakfast, think about the small lunch literal translation of petit. petit déjeuner. |
| Sam: Oh, that’s totally cool. That’s a really nice way to memorize that word – small lunch. |
| Celine: So you have petit déjeuner, breakfast, déjeuner… |
| Sam: déjeuner. |
| Celine: Lunch. |
| Christophe: Et? |
| Celine: Dîner! |
| Christophe: Voilà. |
| Sam: What about snack? |
| Celine: goûter. |
| Sam: Goûter. How many goûter do you have during the day? |
| Christophe: Only one. |
| Sam: Only one? |
| Celine: Yeah, one. At 4:00? |
| Christophe: At 4:00? Yeah. |
| Sam: I think I have maybe five or six. |
| Christophe: Yeah, American way. |
| Celine: American style. So you see, in the dialogue, Emile has a petit dejeuner with Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni. |
| Sam: If you are having petit déjeuner with Nicolas Sarkozy an Carla Burni, what would you eat? |
| Celine: I think a lot of things. |
| Sam: For example? |
| Celine: For example, salty food and eggs, bacon, maybe. |
| Sam: Pancakes. |
| Celine: Pancakes sounds like more like family style. I mean, it would be like the high class petit déjeuner. |
| Sam: Pancakes are high class! |
| Celine: Ah bon? |
| Christophe: Really? |
| Sam: Maybe. |
| Celine: Oh yeah avec… oui ça dépend. It depends. What you add to the pancakes? |
| Christophe: foie gras. |
| Celine: Non pas de foie gras. Okay, you’re not concentrating. |
| Christophe: Okay, okay. |
| Celine: So the next word is avoir sommeil. |
| Sam: The next phrase should be… |
| Celine: Oh, no, no, no. You’re not going to sleep. |
| Christophe: Yeah. Time to have nap. |
| Celine: No. |
| Christophe: Not come on! |
| Celine: So in the conversation, it is an adjective but it can also be a masculine noun, le sommeil. |
| Sam: For example? |
| Celine: For example, sommeil as a noun. Le sommeil est vital pour une bonne santé. |
| Sam: Sleep is vital for good health. |
| Christophe: And now, another example with an adjective il bâille il a sommeil. |
| Sam: Yohan, he’s sleepy. |
| Celine: You’re not sleepy. |
| Sam: Actually I’m a little bit but… |
| Celine: So why don’t we check the grammar? |
| Christophe: Okay. |
| Sam: I’m sorry. Yeah. |
| Celine: Okay. Sam, it’s not time to sleep because what time is it? |
| Sam: I’m too sleepy. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Celine: Quelle heure est-il? No, it’s a point of the grammar. |
| Sam: Oh. I don’t have a watch. |
| Christophe: Il est 10h10. |
| Sam: It’s 10 after 10, almost lunch time! |
| Celine: Sam…okay. So that’s the easiest way to give time, the number of hours first, and then the word “heures” and the minutes after, “dix heures dix”. |
| Christophe: But today, we are going to challenge you with telling time with the minutes already passed and the ones yet to arrive. |
| Sam: What are you trying to say? |
| Celine: You can either say it is 45 past three or a quarter to 4:00. The first way, the minutes passed are indicated; on the other hand, with a quarter past 4:00, the minutes to complete the next hour are described. |
| Christophe: Let’s look at how to tell a quarter of an hour. |
| Celine: A quarter in French is “un quart”. So 15 minutes after the hour is “et quart”. |
| Sam: So let’s say it’s 3:15, you would say “trois heures et quart”. |
| Celine: Okay. But are you talking about the afternoon or the twilight zone in the middle of the night? |
| Sam: In the morning. So “trois heures et quart du matin”, right? |
| Celine: Bravo! |
| Christophe: Bravo, Sam! |
| Celine: Tout à fait. So you know, we don’t say PM, AM in French. We say… |
| Sam: Why? |
| Celine: …c’est du matin. |
| Christophe: du soir. |
| Celine: ou de l’après-midi. |
| Christophe: Oui. |
| Sam: Okay. So morning, night or afternoon. Makes sense. |
| Celine: So après-midi is afternoon, morning is matin. |
| Sam: And night is soir. |
| Christophe: Oui. |
| Sam: Okay. |
| Celine: So, to tell 15 minutes before the hour, it is “moins le quart”. |
| Christophe: Oui. |
| Celine: So this is before, right? |
| Sam: Right. |
| Celine: Before is “moins”. |
| Sam: moins |
| Celine: Meaning “less.” |
| Sam: Yes. So let’s see. If I wanted to say 2:45 or a quarter to 3:00, trois heures moins le quart. |
| Celine: Tout à fait! |
| Christophe: Oui bravo. |
| Celine: So let’s try with a quarter to 7:00. |
| Sam: Sept heures moins le quart. |
| Christophe: Oui c’est ça. |
| Celine: So, sept heures moins le quart, “it’s time to get up”? |
| Sam: Really? That’s early! |
| Celine: Yes, that is. But you know, we are hardworking. So to sum up, a quarter before the hour, put the numbers of hour first then the word heures followed by moins le quart. |
| Christophe: To grow easily and achieve this language point, we’ll look at half an hour. |
| Sam: Thirty minutes. Are you talking about time like neuf heures et demie? |
| Celine: Oh Sam! |
| Christophe: Oui c’est ça! |
| Celine: Okay. You took the words out of my mouth. Half is “demi(e)”. But to incorporate it in telling the time, don’t omit “et”. |
| Christophe: So 9:30 would be neuf heures et demie. |
| Sam: Oh. |
| Celine: Actually, it was perfect, Sam. |
| Christophe: Oui. |
| Sam: Oh, wow. It must have been those pancakes I had for breakfast. |
| Celine: Oui avec du foie gras. |
| Christophe: Oui. |
| Celine: With foie gras. |
Outro |
| Celine: Okay. I think that’s the end of today’s lesson. So please practice every day every time you see the time in English. Just think about the same time in French. That’s a good practice, I think. |
| Sam: Yeah. It sounds like a good idea. Thanks for the lesson, guys. |
| Celine: Merci! Quelle heure est-il? Quelle heure est-il? |
| Christophe: Euh… l’heure de manger! |
| Celine: C’est l’heure de manger, c’est midi! |
| Sam: Lunch time. |
| Christophe: Oui. |
| Sam: Let’s go! |
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