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Nous partons tout à l'heure.

Nous partons tout à l'heure.
We are leaving in a little while.
From Lesson 97:Past time marker (il y a...)·French

Questions & Answers about Nous partons tout à l'heure.

Wait, doesn't tout à l'heure mean 'a little while ago'?
It can mean both 'a little while ago' and 'in a little while'! Tout à l'heure simply refers to a time very close to right now. Because this sentence describes an action that hasn't happened yet (nous partons), it means 'in a little while'. If the sentence were in a past tense, it would mean 'a little while ago'.
Could I use the lesson's grammar point and say nous partons il y a une heure?
No, because il y a + a time expression translates to 'ago' and is only used for past events (like 'an hour ago'). Since this sentence is about leaving in the future, you must use tout à l'heure (in a little while) or dans (like dans une heure meaning 'in an hour').
Why is the present tense nous partons translated as 'we are leaving'?
Just like in English, French often uses the present tense to talk about a planned action happening in the near future. The time expression tout à l'heure makes it completely clear that the leaving hasn't happened yet.
What is the literal translation of tout à l'heure?
Word-for-word, it means 'all at the hour'. It is a fixed idiom, so it is best not to try to make sense of the individual words. Just memorize it as a set phrase meaning 'shortly' (either just before now, or just after now)!

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