| Let's look at the sentence pattern. |
| The first pattern is the structure that some of our examples will follow. |
| [noun or noun phrase] est à partir de [time] |
| [noun or noun phrase] is from [time] |
| First is the noun or noun phrase — this is the thing you're talking about, like an event, a reservation, or a service. |
| Then we have est à partir de, which means "is from." This phrase marks the starting time of something. |
| And finally, we have the time — this can be in a 24-hour format. |
| In this pattern, est is the third-person singular form of the verb être, which means "to be." |
| À partir de literally means "starting from," but in natural English, we just say "from." |
| Let's see how a line from the dialogue follows this pattern. |
| L'enregistrement à l'hôtel est à partir de 15h. |
| "Check-in at the hotel is from 3:00 PM." |
| In this sentence: |
| L'enregistrement is the noun, meaning "check-in." That's the thing we're talking about. |
| À l'hôtel tells us where the check-in is happening — "at the hotel." |
| All together, they will form the noun phrase L'enregistrement à l'hôtel, meaning Check-in at the hotel. |
| Then comes the key part: est à partir de 15h. This means "is from 3:00 PM." |
| So, est is the verb "is," and à partir de 15h means "starting from 3:00 PM." |
| So, L'enregistrement à l'hôtel est à partir de 15h translates to: |
| "Check-in at the hotel is from 3:00 PM." |
| Now, you can use this structure to talk about start times for all kinds of events or services in French! |
| For the next pattern, let's look at how to say until what time something will be. |
| [noun or noun phrase] est ouvert/e jusqu'à [time] |
| "[noun or noun phrase] is open until [time]" |
| We start with the noun or noun phrase — the thing that is open. This could be a place like a store, a restaurant. |
| Next is est ouvert or est ouverte. This means "is open." |
| Ouvert is used when the noun is masculine. |
| Ouverte is used when the noun is feminine. |
| After that, we have jusqu'à, meaning "until," followed by a time like 22h, which is 10:00 PM in 24-hour time. |
| So when you want to say something stays open until a certain time; this is the pattern you'll use. |
| Let's see how the second focus from the dialogue follows this pattern. |
| Elle est ouverte jusqu'à 22h. |
| "It is open until 10:00 PM." |
| In this sentence: |
| Elle refers to something feminine — in this case, la piscine intérieure, "the indoor pool," as we heard in the dialog. |
| Est ouverte means "is open." The adjective ouverte ends in -e to match the gender of the feminine noun. |
| Jusqu'à 22h means "until 10:00 PM." |
| So, Elle est ouverte jusqu'à 22h means |
| "It is open until 10:00 PM." |
| Now, you can use this pattern to talk about when something closes in French. |
| In France, many stores and businesses take a long lunch break in the middle of the day. It's common for shops to close around 12:00 PM and reopen around 2:00 or even 3:00 PM. This break is called "la pause déjeuner," or "the lunch break." That's why you might see signs that say "ouvert à partir de 15h" — open from 3:00 PM. Big supermarkets and chains often stay open all day, but in smaller towns, that afternoon break is still a big part of daily life! |
| Now let's look at some speaking examples. |
| La banque est ouverte jusqu'à 17h. |
| "The bank is open until 5:00 PM." |
| Can you see how the pattern applies here? |
| Let's break it down: |
| Here, La banque is the noun phrase, the thing we're talking about — in this case, "the bank." |
| Est means "is." |
| Ouverte is the adjective, meaning "open." It ends in -e because banque is a feminine noun. |
| Jusqu'à 17h means "until 5:00 PM." |
| So, that's how La banque est ouverte jusqu'à 17h fits the pattern: |
| [noun or noun phrase] est ouverte jusqu'à [time] — "The bank is open until 5:00 PM." |
| Here's another example |
| Le magasin est ouvert à partir de 8h. |
| "The store is open from 8:00 AM." |
| Le magasin est ouvert à partir de 8h. |
| "The store is open from 8:00 AM." |
| Let's try one more, |
| La bibliothèque est ouverte jusqu'à 19h. |
| "The library is open until 7:00 PM." |
| La bibliothèque est ouverte jusqu'à 19h. |
| "The library is open until 7:00 PM." |
| Another one. |
| Le restaurant est ouvert à partir de 12h. |
| "The restaurant is open from 12:00 PM." |
| Le restaurant est ouvert à partir de 12h. |
| "The restaurant is open from 12:00 PM." |
| One last example. |
| La piscine est ouverte jusqu'à 21h. |
| "The pool is open until 9:00 PM." |
| La piscine est ouverte jusqu'à 21h. |
| "The pool is open until 9:00 PM." |
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