Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Sam: “What Time Is It, Mrs. Twit?” Hello, Alex!
Alex: Bonjour, Sam.
Céline: Bonjour, Alex et bonjour, Sam.
Alex: Bonjour Céline.
Sam: So we have another interesting lesson today. What's the backdrop for today's wonderful lesson at FrenchPod101.com?
Céline: Today we're going to learn how to ask and tell about time. This conversation is between Rémi and his sister Aurélie.
Sam: Ok. Those two keep coming up in our conversations, don't they?
Céline: Oui!
Alex: All the time.
Sam: They're popular.
Céline: Ok.
Sam: C’est parti.
Céline: C’est parti.
DIALOGUE
Alex: Quelle heure est-il, Madame Cécile?
Céline: Il est une heure et quinze minutes.
Alex: Ah une heure et quart, Monsieur placard!
Céline: Regarde, Rémi... et là, il est quelle heure, Monsieur Couleur?
Alex: Trois heures et demi de l’après-midi, Madame pipi.
Sam: One more time, slowly.
Alex: Quelle heure est-il, Madame Cécile?
Céline: Il est une heure et quinze minutes.
Alex: Ah une heure et quart, Monsieur placard!
Céline: Regarde, Rémi... et là, il est quelle heure, Monsieur Couleur?
Alex: Trois heures et demi de l’après-midi, Madame pipi.
Sam: Now with the English.
Alex: Quelle heure est-il, Madame Cécile*?
Sam: What time is it, Mrs.Twit?
Céline: Il est une heure et quinze minutes.
Sam: It’s 1:15.
Alex: Ah une heure et quart, Monsieur placard!
Sam: Ah, it’s quarter past one, Mrs. Closet!
Céline: Regarde, Rémi... et là, il est quelle heure, Monsieur Couleur?
Sam: Look, Rémi...and there, what time is it, Mrs. Twit?
Alex: Trois heures et demi de l’après-midi, Madame pipi.
Sam: It’s half past three in the afternoon, Madame Pipi.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Sam: So I have a question for you guys.
Céline: Oui.
Sam: Is it ok to be late in France?
Alex: Well you know, Sam, les français sont toujours en retard.
Sam: The French are always late?
Céline: N’importe quoi.
Sam: Nonsense.
Céline: Bon, peut-être. Dans le sud.
Sam: In the south...
Céline: Yes, we have something called the “quart d’heure toulousain”.
Sam: The Toulouse fifteen minutes.
Céline: You can be late for fifteen minutes, no worries. And you just say, oh this is the”quart d’heure toulousain”, and everybody forgives you.
Sam: Can you use that in Paris, too?
Céline: Yeah, sure, but you have to mention it's from Toulouse. Parisian people, they love Toulouse.
Sam: Oh.
Céline: So, let's take a look at the vocab?
Sam: Can we wait fifteen minutes?
Alex: Ah, no.
Céline: Non je ne crois pas. I don't think so.
VOCAB LIST
Sam: The first item is...
Alex: Quelle.
Sam: The feminine form of which or what.
Alex: Quelle. Quelle.
Sam: Next.
Céline: Quart.
Sam: Quarter.
Céline: Quart. Quart.
Sam: Next.
Alex: Minutes.
Sam: Minutes.
Alex: Minutes. Minutes.
Sam: Next.
Céline: Heure.
Sam: Hour.
Céline: Heure. Heure.
Sam: Next.
Alex: Après-midi.
Sam: Afternoon.
Alex: Après-midi. Après-midi.
Sam: Next.
Céline: Demi.
Sam: Half.
Céline: Demi. Demi.
Sam: Next phrase?
Alex: Quelle heure est-il?
Sam: What time is it?
Alex: Quelle heure est-il? Quelle heure est-il?
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Céline: Now, are you ready for the vocabulary usage.
Alex: Oui!
Sam: Bien sûr.
Céline: Ouh, vous êtes, euh… le premier mot est “heure”.
Alex: "Heure" it means "hour”. Make sure to know that "heure" is feminine.
Céline: Oui. When telling "It is one o'clock." say, "Il est une heure."
Alex: The following word is "minute"
Sam: The older you get, the faster time flies.
Céline: So Sam, get busy and learn new things that make the minutes go slower.
Sam: That makes sense.
Alex: "Minute" is, of course, feminine, corresponding to minute or 60 seconds.
Céline: So for example, par exemple: Il est une heure et dix minutes.
Sam: It's 1:10.
Céline: Next word is "quart." "A quarter" in English.
Sam: Or one-fourth. So when you use the word "quart" telling time it means it means one-fourth of an hour, so it's only 15.
Céline: Oui. Finally we have "demi".
Sam: Half. I heard that word before.
Céline: Exactement, Sam.
Alex: You certainly did, as we saw it in one of our previous Newbie lessons, right?
Céline: Oui, tout à fait. In a restaurant, in a bar, it refers to a beer.
Sam: Ah! I remember, like you say "half half," I think in English.
Céline: Un demi.
Sam: Un demi.
Céline: So don't be confused with time is, for example, to say 2:30, it's “deux heures et demie”.

Lesson focus

Sam: Grammar time?
Céline: Grammar time! French people use most commonly a 24-hour time frame to tell the time.
Alex: For example, instead it's saying "It's 1:00 PM," they would say "Il est treize heures."
Sam: For those of us not familiar with a 24-hour time frame, in French, if you hear "it's thirteen o'clock," just subtract twelve and you have your time.
Céline: Super! I didn't know that. So basically the day is divided in five parts. Le matin.
Sam: Morning.
Alex: Le midi.
Sam: Midday or noon.
Céline: L'après-midi.
Sam: Afternoon.
Alex: Le soir.
Sam: Evening.
Céline: La nuit.
Sam: Night.
Céline: These are most commonly used in the 12-hour frame to specify which part of the day you are referring to. If you say, Il est une heure de l'après-midi.
Sam: It's one in the afternoon.
Céline: Tout à fait.
Alex: Or you can say: Il est une heure du matin.
Sam: It's one in the morning.
Alex: Right.
Céline: C’est fantastique. One other important thing, Alex. The French time format is different from other parts of the world.
Alex: Yes, because, Céline, you know, the form produced in writing is the numbers for the hour, the letter H for "heure," meaning "hour," and the numbers for the minutes. This format is found on the store signs or on leaflets or programs giving schedules of events.
Sam: Oh, interesting. You guys know what? I actually started to do the same thing for a while. I would put the H after the hour and then the minutes.
Céline: Oh, you are becoming French!
Sam: Yes, of course.
Alex: Tu le fais à la française.
Sam: Oh, I'm doing it in the French way?
Alex: Yeah!
Céline: Oui!
Sam: So sometimes I'm doing it the American way and the French way.
Céline: Voilà.

Outro

Sam: Until the next time.
Céline: À bientôt!
Alex: Au revoir à tous!

Grammar

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Dialog (Informal)

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