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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.