ELONIO
Log inSign up

Il est dix heures, tu dors beaucoup !

Il est dix heures, tu dors beaucoup !
It is ten o'clock, you sleep a lot!
From Lesson 49:Very vs. a lot (très, beaucoup)·French

Questions & Answers about Il est dix heures, tu dors beaucoup !

Why do we use beaucoup here instead of très?
In French, you use beaucoup (a lot) to intensify a verb. Here, it describes the action of sleeping (dors). You only use très (very) to intensify adjectives (like "tall") or adverbs (like "fast"). Since sleeping is an action, beaucoup is the correct choice.
Why does the sentence use Il est instead of C'est for "It is"?
When telling the time in French, you must always use Il est. Even though C'est also means "It is" and is used to identify things in many other situations, telling the time is a strict exception!
Since dix heures is plural, why isn't the beginning of the sentence Ils sont?
Even though ten hours is plural, the Il in Il est is an impersonal pronoun here, exactly like the "It" in the English phrase "It is raining". It doesn't refer to a specific plural object, so the verb stays strictly singular.
How are the words dix heures pronounced together?
Because dix ends in an "x" and heures starts with a silent "h", their sounds link together (a rule called liaison). The "x" changes to a "z" sound, making dix heures sound like "deeze-uhr". The "s" at the end of heures remains silent.

Learn Il est dix heures, tu dors beaucoup and more in French

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning French →