In this grammar lesson you will learn how to precisely express punctuality in French.
In this lesson you will learn about:
- how to say that one is early in French
- how to say that one is late in French
- how the idioms are used in sentences
- how you quiz yourself on how to precisely express punctuality in French
- how to practice with flashcards on how to precisely express punctuality in French
- how and why you should use the courses of Language Atlas to learn French
Please refer to the French A2 Curriculum to get a better overview of French grammar, if you are curious about how to precisely express punctuality in French fits in French A2 grammar.
By the end of the lesson you will know all about how to precisely express punctuality in French!
Table of Contents
Introduction
In the first lesson on how to express punctuality, you learnt how to say early and late in French.
You learn that to say that you are early, you will use the following idiom:
- (être) en avance = (to be) early
You also learnt that to say that you are late, you will use the following idiom:
- (être) en retard = (to be) late
In this lesson you will learn how to precisely express punctuality in French.
How To Precisely Say That You Are Early
There are two ways to precisely express “being early” in French:
- avoir [time duration] d’avance
- être en avance de [time duration]
Il a dix minutes d’avance.
He is ten minutes early.
Elle est en avance de quinze minutes.
She is fifteen minutes early.
Peux-tu revenir plus tard ? Tu as 20 minutes d’avance.
Can you come back later? You are 20 minutes early.
Pouvez-vous revenir plus tard ? Vous êtes en avance de 45 minutes.
Can you come back later? You are 45 minutes early.
In sentences with arriver/commencer/finir/venir, you will use the following idioms to express “being early”:
- avec [time duration] d’avance
- [time duration] en avance
Il est arrivé avec dix minutes d’avance.
He arrived ten minutes early.
Ils sont venus une heure en avance.
They came an hour early.
How To Precisely Say That You Are Late
There are two ways to precisely express “being late” in French:
- avoir [time duration] de retard
- être en retard de [time duration]
Mon bus a eu cinq minutes de retard.
My bus was five minutes late.
Leur train a été en retard de 2 heures à cause de la tempête.
Their train was 2 hours late because of the storm.
Je pense que je vais avoir 30 minutes de retard.
I think I am going to be 30 minutes late.
Je pense qu’il va être en retard de 45 minutes.
I think he is going to be 45 minutes late.
In sentences with arriver/commencer/finir/venir, you will use the following idioms to express “being late”:
- avec [time duration] de retard
- [time duration] en retard
La classe a commencé avec une heure de retard.
The class started an hour late.
La réunion a fini une demi-heure en retard.
The meeting ended half an hour late.
Sentences Overview of How to Precisely Express Punctuality in French
The final section of this lesson on how to precisely express punctuality in French is about seeing the idiom in action.
This is valuable because you can improve your understanding on how to precisely express punctuality in French through examples.
This section contains all of the previous sentences, neatly organised in one place.
Il a dix minutes d’avance.
He is ten minutes early.
Elle est en avance de quinze minutes.
She is fifteen minutes early.
Peux-tu revenir plus tard ? Tu as 20 minutes d’avance.
Can you come back later? You are 20 minutes early.
Pouvez-vous revenir plus tard ? Vous êtes en avance de 45 minutes.
Can you come back later? You are 45 minutes early.
Il est arrivé avec dix minutes d’avance.
He arrived ten minutes early.
Ils sont venus une heure en avance.
They came an hour early.
Mon bus a eu cinq minutes de retard.
My bus was five minutes late.
Leur train a été en retard de 2 heures à cause de la tempête.
Their train was 2 hours late because of the storm.
Je pense que je vais avoir 30 minutes de retard.
I think I am going to be 30 minutes late.
Je pense qu’il va être en retard de 45 minutes.
I think he is going to be 45 minutes late.
La classe a commencé avec une heure de retard.
The class started an hour late.
La réunion a fini une demi-heure en retard.
The meeting ended half an hour late.
Quiz Yourself on How to Precisely Express Punctuality in French
At the end of every lesson you can do a small quiz.
You will see the sentences of the previous chapter.
You will either need to fill in the blanks, choose the correct multiple choice option, or both.
Once you are done the correct answer will be shown.
You can redo the quiz as many times as you want!
How to Practice With Flashcards for This Lesson
Using flashcards is an absolute necessity when it comes to learning a language!
It is the best way to memorize what you learn, you can personalize your progression because it adapts to your actions, and all flashcards have audio to improve your hearing and pronunciation.
Please read our article on how to learn a new language for more information on flashcards and the best way to learn a new language.
There are two ways to practice with Flashcards for this lesson.
- Anki
- The Flashcards in our Courses
Anki is a free software with which you can create and practice flashcards.
After you have downloaded Anki, you can get our French A2 Anki Deck.
This Anki Deck contains 3,816 flashcards with which you can practice absolutely everything for French A2.
All the flashcards have text, images, explanations, and audio.
You can also use our courses that have flashcards integrated alongside lessons with audio, quizzes and much more!
However, I am sure you are wondering, what are your courses, and why should I take them?
The Courses of Language Atlas
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