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L’horloge de la cuisine indique qu’il est l’heure de dîner.

L’horloge de la cuisine indique qu’il est l’heure de dîner.
The clock in the kitchen shows that it is dinnertime.
FromLesson 15inHardcore French

Breakdown of L’horloge de la cuisine indique qu’il est l’heure de dîner.

être
to be
il
he
de
of
que
that
la cuisine
the kitchen
l'heure
the time
l'horloge
the clock
indiquer
to show
dîner
to dine

Questions & Answers about L’horloge de la cuisine indique qu’il est l’heure de dîner.

Why is there an apostrophe in l’horloge instead of writing la horloge?
The apostrophe shows that the article la has been elided before a vowel. Since horloge begins with a vowel sound, French uses l’ to ease pronunciation.
What does the phrase de la cuisine do in this sentence?
The phrase de la cuisine is a prepositional phrase acting as an adjective. It specifies which clock is meant—namely, the one located in the kitchen, i.e., the kitchen clock.
What does the verb indique mean, and what does its form tell us about the subject?
Indique means “shows” or “indicates.” It is conjugated in the third person singular to agree with the subject l’horloge de la cuisine.
How is the subordinate clause qu’il est l’heure de dîner structured, and why is it introduced by que?
The subordinate clause qu’il est l’heure de dîner explains what the clock indicates. It is introduced by the conjunction que, linking the main clause to the subordinate clause. This clause has its own subject (il) and verb (est), forming a complete idea that translates to “it is time for dinner.”
Why is que il contracted to qu’il in the sentence?
In French, when que is followed by a subject that begins with a vowel (here, il), the two words contract to form qu’il. This contraction creates a smoother, more fluent pronunciation.
How is the time expression l’heure de dîner constructed, and why is de used before dîner?
L’heure de dîner literally translates to “the hour of dining.” The preposition de is used to link l’heure (the hour) to dîner (to dine) and is a common structure in French for expressing that it is time for a particular activity.
Why is the dummy subject il necessary in il est l’heure de dîner even though the main clause already has a clear subject?
In expressions like il est l’heure de dîner, il is an impersonal or "dummy" subject used to form a complete time expression. Although the main clause’s subject is l’horloge, the subordinate clause describing the time requires its own subject, resulting in the use of il to mean “it.”
AI Language TutorTry it ↗
“How does grammatical gender work in French?”
Every French noun is either masculine or feminine, and this affects the articles and adjectives used with it. "Le" is used with masculine nouns and "la" with feminine ones. Adjectives also change form to match — for example, "petit" (masc.) becomes "petite" (fem.).

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