Review
In the video, you learned expressions for telling time in French. Review these expressions below. Remember, to say the time,you use the expression Il est _____ heures. Click each time expression in the slideshow below to see and hear it in French.
Did you hear extra letters at the ends of some of the number words? In French, this is called liaison. In certain situations, before a vowel sound, those silent letters are pronounced. And the sound glides into the next word. In this case, the word heures starts with a vowel sound because the letter h in French is silent.
Let’s looks at some examples of liaison in action.
For example:
deux (You can’t hear the x.)
Il est deux heures. (The x makes a
z sound.)
trois (The letter s is silent.)
Il est trois heures. (The s now makes a
z sound.)
Liaison doesn’t just happen with silent letters. Listen to how the last letter of other number words starts the word heures.
Il est cinq heures.
Il est sept heures.
Il est neuf heures.
Using liaisons properly takes a lot of experience with the French language. So, don’t worry if you make mistakes while you’re just starting out.
Asking a French speaker about when to use the liaison can be interesting. Often teachers and people in general like to appear to always know the answers. However, in certain situations, different French speakers will tell you to use, not to use, or that you can choose to use a liaison when a silent letter appear before a vowel. Visit Provence, in the Southwest of French or the North of France where they speak a dialect of French called the Ch’ti, and you will hear the liaison used in ways that won’t be taught in a French language class. On whether to use a liaison in a certain situation, the best advice is to just defer to the native speakers of French you are with and how they use them.
Now, let’s get back to telling time. Can you tell what time it is? Read each clock below and choose the correct time in French.
Quelle heure est-il?
The clock shows it is five o’clock.
The clock shows it is five o’clock.
The clock shows it is five o’clock.
The clock says it is nine o’clock.
The clock says it is nine o’clock.
The clock says it is nine o’clock.
The clock says it is three o’clock.
The clock says it is three o’clock.
The clock says it is three o’clock.
The clock shows it is eleven o’clock.
The clock shows it is eleven o’clock.
The clock shows it is eleven o’clock.
You got # out of # correct. Click the Retry button for another attempt.
You got a perfect score. Great job!
In French, the word for hours is feminine. That is why you say une heure. To make the word plural, you add an s: deux heures.
Get ready to include minutes in your time telling on the next page.
Question
What letter makes the liaison in onze heures?
the letter z, onze heures
