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Le film commence à six heures.

Le film commence à six heures.
The film starts at six o'clock.
FromLesson 25inHardcore French

Breakdown of Le film commence à six heures.

à
at
commencer
to start
le film
the film
l'heure
the hour
six
six

Questions & Answers about Le film commence à six heures.

Do I have to use the article le before film?
Yes. In French, a common noun almost always needs a determiner. Le film means the specific film. Without an article (just Film commence…) sounds like a headline or note. Alternatives: Ce film (this film), Un film (a film, non-specific), or the title itself: Avatar commence à six heures.
Is the present tense commence okay even though the time is in the future?
Yes. French uses the present to talk about scheduled events: Le train part à 9 h, Le concert commence à 20 h. You can also use the future, Le film commencera à six heures, but the present is very natural for timetables.
Why is the preposition à used before the time?
À means at (a point in time). So à six heures = at six o’clock. Don’t confuse it with a (without accent), which is the verb avoir in the 3rd person singular (he/she/it has). Also, you wouldn’t use au here; au = à + le, which is used before masculine nouns with the article, not before a bare time.
Does six heures mean 6 a.m. or 6 p.m.?

By itself it’s ambiguous; context usually clarifies. To specify:

  • Morning: à six heures du matin
  • Afternoon: à six heures de l’après-midi (often 6 p.m. is said as à dix-huit heures)
  • Evening: à six heures du soir A very common way to avoid ambiguity is the 24-hour clock: à 18 h.
Why is heures plural here?

In time-telling, heure agrees with the number:

  • Une heure
  • Deux/trois/six heures With midi and minuit, you don’t say heures: à midi, à minuit.
Can I put the time at the start of the sentence?
Yes: À six heures, le film commence. This puts emphasis on the time. Keep the comma after the time expression.
How do I ask What time does the film start?

Two common ways:

  • À quelle heure est-ce que le film commence ?
  • Le film commence à quelle heure ? (more informal) With inversion (formal/written): À quelle heure le film commence-t-il ?
Can I write the time with digits, and how?

Yes. Standard writing uses h for heures with spaces:

  • à 6 h
  • à 18 h 00 Spelling out is also fine in running text: à six heures. A colon (6:00) is seen on screens but is less standard in formal French than h.
How should I pronounce six heures? Is there a liaison?

Yes, there’s usually a liaison: six links to heures with a Z sound. Think: see-zer. Rough guide:

  • six heures ≈ see-zer
  • The h in heures is silent. Also, commence sounds like koh-mohns (final -e is silent).
Can I say Le film est à six heures instead?
Yes. Le film est à six heures means the film is scheduled at six. Le film commence à six heures highlights the start time. Both are idiomatic.
What’s the difference between à six heures and dans six heures?
  • à six heures = at 6:00 (clock time).
  • dans six heures = in six hours (duration from now). Example: Le film commence dans six heures (It starts six hours from now).
Are there useful synonyms for commencer here?
  • débute: Le film débute à six heures (a bit more formal/literary).
  • passe (colloquial for screenings): Le film passe à six heures (it’s showing at six).
  • For the screening itself: La séance est à six heures.
Any other time expressions I should know with this?
  • Quarter past: à six heures et quart
  • Half past: à six heures et demie (demie agrees with heure)
  • Quarter to: à sept heures moins le quart
  • Noon/midnight: à midi, à minuit
Anything tricky about the spelling of commence/commencer?

The verb is commencer. In the present:

  • il/elle commence (soft c before e)
  • nous commençons takes a cedilla to keep the soft c before o.
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“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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