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Il est dix heures moins le quart.

Il est dix heures moins le quart.
It is a quarter to ten.
From Lesson 40:Telling time (il est... heure)·French

Questions & Answers about Il est dix heures moins le quart.

Why do we use Il est instead of C'est for 'It is'?
When telling the time in French, you always use Il est. While C'est is used to say 'it is' for many other things, time is a strict exception. Here, Il acts as an impersonal 'it', just like when talking about the weather.
How does the word moins work in this sentence?
Moins literally means 'minus'. In English, we say 'a quarter to', looking forward to the hour. In French, you state the upcoming hour first (dix heures) and subtract the minutes. It literally translates to 'ten hours minus the quarter'.
Why is there a le before quart?
When subtracting a quarter to the hour, French always uses moins le quart (minus the quarter). This is a set phrase you just have to memorize. By contrast, when saying 'a quarter past', you drop the le and just say et quart (and quarter).
How do you pronounce dix heures?
Because heures starts with a silent 'h', the 'x' in dix links to the next vowel sound. This linking is called a liaison. Instead of sounding like an 's' like it normally would, the 'x' sounds like a 'z', making the phrase sound like 'dee-zuhr'.

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