Learn French: Le médecin arrive toujours à l'heure. - The doctor always arrives on time.

Le médecin arrive toujours à l'heure.

The doctor always arrives on time.

Breakdown of Le médecin arrive toujours à l'heure.

Questions & Answers about Le médecin arrive toujours à l'heure.

The translation says "on time", but doesn't heure mean "hour"?

Yes, heure literally means "hour." However, the fixed expression à l'heure is the standard way to say "on time" or "punctual" in French. You will also see the word heure used in this lesson's question phrase à quelle heure (at what time).

Why is toujours placed right after arrive? Can I put it before the verb like in English?

No, you can't put it before the verb in French. Short adverbs that indicate how often something happens, like toujours (always) and souvent (often), usually go immediately after the conjugated verb. This is why it is arrive toujours (arrives always) instead of "toujours arrive".

Based on this lesson, how would I ask "At what time does the doctor arrive?"

You would use the phrase à quelle heure (at what time). A very common and easy way to build this question is to add est-ce que right after your question words. That gives you: À quelle heure est-ce que le médecin arrive ?

Are médecin and docteur the same thing?

They both mean "doctor" and are frequently used interchangeably. Le médecin is the official name of the medical profession. Docteur is also used for the profession in everyday speech, but it is specifically used as a title before a doctor's name, just like in English.