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Questions & Answers about Le directeur arrive à l'heure.
Why is le directeur used instead of la directeur?
In French, every noun has a grammatical gender. Directeur is a masculine noun, so it takes the masculine definite article le. If you were talking about a female director, you’d say la directrice (feminine noun + feminine article).
Why is there a definite article before the job title here? In English, we often say just “Director arrives….”
In French, it’s standard to use the definite article before professions, roles or titles when speaking in general or about a specific person. So you say le directeur, le professeur, la médecin, even if you wouldn’t use “the” in English.
Why is the verb arrive spelled with a final -e and not -es, like “he arrives” in English?
French -er verbs (like arriver) follow a pattern in the present tense: for il/elle/on (third person singular), you drop -er and add -e. So (il) arriver → il arrive. The English “arrives” adds -s, but French has its own set of endings.
What tense is arrive? It looks like simple present—does it ever mean future?
Here it’s the present indicative (présent de l’indicatif). Unlike English, French often uses the present tense to talk about scheduled events or timetables. So Le directeur arrive à l’heure can mean “The director arrives on time” now or as a fixed plan.
Why is the preposition à used with l’heure? Could I use en or dans instead?
To say someone is “on time,” French uses arriver à l’heure: the verb + à + l’ (definite article) + heure. You would not use en or dans here.
- en often means “in” (duration): en une heure (“in one hour”).
- dans means “in” when talking about a future delay: dans une heure (“in an hour from now”).
What does à l’heure literally mean, and why does it translate as “on time”?
Literally, à l’heure means “at the hour.” Idiomatically, it’s used to mean “precisely at the appointed time” or simply “on time.” French loves these simple preposition + noun idioms.
Could I say Il est à l’heure instead of Il arrive à l’heure? What’s the difference?
Yes, Il est à l’heure means “He is on time” (he’s there when expected). Il arrive à l’heure focuses on the action of arriving on time. One describes his state (est), the other describes the event (arrive).
Is there any liaison or special pronunciation when saying arrive à l’heure?
Yes. You normally link the final -e in arrive to the à, but since à ends in a vowel and l’heure begins with a vowel sound, you just pronounce smoothly without a hard break:
a. arrive → [aʁiv]
b. à l’heure → [a lœʁ]
Together: [aʁiv a lœʁ], with no extra /t/ or /z/ sound, just a flowing connection.
How would I make this sentence negative?
Wrap the verb in ne … pas. Because arrive starts with a vowel, you can make the ne contract to n’:
Le directeur n’arrive pas à l’heure.
That means “The director does not arrive on time.”
How do I turn Le directeur arrive à l’heure into a question?
You have three main options in French:
1) Intonation (spoken): Le directeur arrive à l’heure ?
2) Est-ce que: Est-ce que le directeur arrive à l’heure ?
3) Inversion (more formal): Le directeur arrive-t-il à l’heure ?
All mean “Does the director arrive on time?” or “Is the director arriving on time?”