French Words and Phrases Related to Time and Duration
Let’s talk about TIME. There is a huge list of words and topics about time but today, we’ll be narrowing it down and only talk about French words and phrases related to time.
If you are looking for a lesson on how to tell time in French, it’s another topic for another day. But you can head over to that separate article here.
This particular article is quite short and concise and is divided into four parts. You can click the Quick Navigation guide below to jump to specific lists.
Let’s begin learning about French time phrases and words, shall we?
I. French Words and Phrases about Frequency
These words answer the question, “how often?”
| une fois | once |
| une fois par semaine | once a week |
| deux fois par semaine | twice a week |
| quotidien | daily |
| tous les jours | every day |
| tous les deux jours | every other day |
| hebdomadaire | weekly |
| toutes les semaines | every week |
| mensuel | monthly |
| annuel | yearly |
II. French Words and Phrases about Relative Time
These words answer the questions, “When did it happen?” or “When will it happen?”
| avant-hier | the day before yesterday |
| hier | yesterday |
| aujourd’hui | today |
| maintenant | now |
| demain | tomorrow |
| après-demain | the day after tomorrow |
| la veille de | the day before yesterday |
| le lendemain | the day after, the next day |
| la semaine passée/dernière | last week |
| la dernière semaine | the final week |
| la semaine prochaine | next week |
| il y a peu de temps | a little while ago |
III. French Words and Phrases about Points in time / Periods of time
Now for the particular moment/ period of time.
| une seconde | second |
| une minute | minute |
| une heure | hour |
| un jour, une journée | day |
| une semaine | week |
| un mois | month |
| un an, une année | year |
| une décennie | decade |
| un siècle | century |
| un millénaire | millenium |
| le matin | morning |
| l’après-midi | afternoon |
| midi | noon |
| le soir | evening |
| le crépuscule | dusk |
| l’aube | dawn |
| la nuit | night |
| minuit | midnight |
IV. Prepositions about Time
Now for the prepositions related to time. Keep these in mind as these little words can be quite confusing to some!
| à | used when expressing the time when a certain action will occur. | à 8 heures. At 8 o’clock. |
| en | used when expressing the length of time, season, month, or year. | En été. In summer. |
| dans | used when telling the amount of time before an action will happen. | Nous mangerons dans 10 minutes. We’ll eat in 10 minutes. |
| depuis | used when saying the duration of an ongoing activity. | Nous parlons depuis une heure. We’ve been talking for an hour. |
| pendant/durant | refers to the entire duration of an action. | Il a dormi pendant/durant 12 heures. He slept for 12 hours. |
| pour | refers to the duration of a future event. | Il va parler pour une heure. He’s going to speak for an hour |
Did you like this lesson about French time words and phrases? You can find more short lessons like this in the e-book Beginner’s French Grammar in 30 Days. It’s filled with short, concise lessons perfect for even the busiest learners.
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