Lesson 2: Numbers, Days, and Time

Numbers, Days, and Time

You can greet someone and ask politely. Now give your request a quantity and your plan a time: Trois croissants, s'il vous plaît. On se voit mercredi à quinze heures ? — Three croissants, please. Shall we meet Wednesday at 3 PM?

This lesson covers numbers 0–20, the few extra numbers needed for a clock, weekdays, and everyday schedules. Practice three distinct tasks: counting things, saying the time now, and saying when something happens.

1. Count from zero to twenty

Learn 11–16 as individual words. Then notice the pattern dix + unit: dix-sept is 10 + 7, dix-huit is 10 + 8, and dix-neuf is 10 + 9. Keep the hyphens.

For one, match the noun: un garçon (one boy), une fille (one girl), un café (one coffee), une table (one table). Numbers 2–20 do not change for gender: deux garçons, deux filles. The noun normally becomes plural after these numbers.

Try it: Say “four croissants,” “one table,” and “twenty euros.”
Answers: quatre croissants, une table, vingt euros.

Pronunciation changes in connected speech

Sept is pronounced /sɛt/: the p is silent, but the t is pronounced. OQLF, sept and neuf In trois, keep the French r; it is not simply the English sound “twah.”

When counting aloud, six /sis/ and dix /dis/ differ in their first consonant, not in having a “deeper ee.” When these numbers introduce a noun or adjective beginning with a consonant, the final /s/ is normally absent: six cafés, dix cafés. Before a noun or adjective beginning with a vowel or a mute h, it links as /z/: six euros, dix heures. OQLF, six and dix

Vingt usually has a silent final t when said alone, but the t is heard in vingt euros. There are regional differences. Learning both the counting form and one useful phrase is more reliable than assigning each number a single English respelling. OQLF, vingt

2. Use numbers in a purchase

Je voudrais trois croissants, s'il vous plaît adds “I would like” to the request pattern from Lesson 1. J'achète trois billets describes buying three tickets. J'ai vingt euros states how much money you have. The apostrophe in j'ai or j'achète replaces the e of je before a vowel.

Worked example: In our imaginary bakery, three croissants cost six euros in total. You pay ten euros. Your change is four euros, because 10 − 6 = 4. These are practice prices, not current prices for a particular shop.

Shopkeeper: Ça fait six euros.
That's six euros.

You: Voilà dix euros.
Here are ten euros.

Shopkeeper: Et quatre euros pour vous.
And four euros for you.

3. Name a day and describe a routine

Day names normally have lowercase initials within a sentence. They still take a capital at the start of a sentence: Lundi, je travaille. — On Monday, I work.

Compare these complete patterns:

• Je travaille lundi. — I work on Monday, a particular Monday.
• Je travaille le lundi. — I work on Mondays, as a routine.
• Nous travaillons le lundi. — We work on Mondays.
• On travaille le lundi. — We work on Mondays, using conversational on.
• J'ai cours mardi. — I have class on Tuesday.
• J'ai cours le mardi. — I have class on Tuesdays.

Nous travaillons and on travaille express “we work” here; on takes a singular verb form even when it refers to several people. J'ai cours is a useful phrase for “I have class.”

These patterns are a starting point. Context and words such as a calendar date can change how an article is interpreted. For a clearly recurring schedule, tous les lundis explicitly means “every Monday.” Do not infer “every week” from an isolated weekday on an unclear sign.

Quel jour sommes-nous aujourd'hui ? or On est quel jour aujourd'hui ? asks what day it is. Answer C'est mercredi — It's Wednesday.

À vendredi ! means “See you Friday!” Use à + day for this farewell: À lundi ! À mercredi ! It extends the à bientôt pattern from Lesson 1.

4. Tell the time now

Ask Quelle heure est-il ? — What time is it?

Heure is feminine, so say une heure. Write heures after deux, trois, and other plural quantities. The sentence still begins Il est, even when heures is plural: Il est deux heures, not Ils sont deux heures when giving the time.

Et quart means a quarter of an hour after the named hour: 60 ÷ 4 = 15 minutes. Et demie means half an hour after it: 60 ÷ 2 = 30 minutes. Write demie, adding a final e to demi but no plural s, after heure or heures. A usual spelling after the masculine words midi and minuit is demi: midi et demi, minuit et demi. Government of Canada, demi

Count toward the next hour

Il est trois heures moins le quart means a quarter to three: 3:00 − 15 minutes = 2:45. For 5:45, say Il est six heures moins le quart.

You can also use the minutes after the hour: Il est deux heures quarante-cinq is 2:45. Trente means 30 and quarante-cinq means 45. In the hour-plus-minutes pattern, use trois heures quinze; in the quarter expression, use trois heures et quart.

Check: Is trois heures moins le quart 3:45 or 2:45?
Answer: 2:45. You are subtracting from three, not adding to it.

5. Distinguish morning, afternoon, and evening

• huit heures du matin — 8 AM.
• trois heures de l'après-midi — 3 PM.
• neuf heures du soir — 9 PM.

Le matin means morning, l'après-midi afternoon, le soir evening, and la nuit night. Après-midi can be masculine or feminine; l' hides that difference here. Specify a clock time when an evening label alone could be unclear.

Schedules commonly use a 24-hour clock:

For hours 13–23, subtract 12 to get the afternoon/evening 12-hour number: 18 − 12 = 6. 0 h is midnight; 12 h is noon. Minutes do not change.

The extra clock numbers are vingt et un (21), vingt-deux (22), and vingt-trois (23). Before feminine heures, 21 becomes vingt et une heures. The spelling vingt-et-une heures, with all parts joined by hyphens, is also accepted under the revised spelling conventions.

Written French commonly separates hours and minutes with h, with spaces: 14 h 45. You will also encounter digital notation such as 14:45 and compact signs such as 14h45. They indicate the same time. OQLF, writing hours

6. Ask when something happens

To ask at what time, use À quelle heure… ? To give the time, use à: à dix heures, à midi.

Useful words: ouvre (opens), ferme (closes), part (leaves), la réunion (the meeting), libre (free/available), après (after). Un rendez-vous is an appointment or meeting; le cours commence means “the class starts.”

Reading signs:

• Ouvert du lundi au vendredi, de 9 h à 18 h. — Open Monday through Friday, 9 AM–6 PM.
• Fermé tous les lundis. — Closed every Monday.
• Départ : 14 h 45. — Departure: 2:45 PM.
• Petit déjeuner : 7 h–11 h. — Breakfast: 7 AM–11 AM.

These are invented practice signs. Actual opening days and meal names vary by place; use the information on the particular sign. Du…au… joins the days in the range; de…à… joins the times.

7. Agree on a meeting

Marie: On se voit cette semaine ?
Shall we meet this week?

Alex: Oui. Mardi ou mercredi ?
Yes. Tuesday or Wednesday?

Marie: Mercredi. À quelle heure ?
Wednesday. At what time?

Alex: À quinze heures ?
At 3 PM?

Marie: Parfait. À mercredi !
Perfect. See you Wednesday!

On se voit… ? proposes seeing each other. Ou, without an accent, means “or”; remember où, “where,” from Lesson 1.

Your challenge: A friend proposes Saturday at 3 PM. You are free after 5 PM. Suggest 6:30 PM instead, then confirm the day and time.

Model: Je suis libre après dix-sept heures. On se voit samedi à dix-huit heures trente ? Parfait. À samedi !

Now change the day and time without reading the model. In Lesson 3, use the numbers again to describe family members and their ages.