Learn Hardcore French: En septembre, nous changeons l’horaire du jeudi pour commencer plus tôt. - In September, we change Thursday’s schedule to start earlier.

You don’t say au septembre. Au is used with some masculine nouns like seasons (au printemps) or countries (au Canada), but not with months.

Dans septembre would sound wrong; dans with a time expression usually means in X time from now (e.g. dans deux semaines = in two weeks), not during the month of.

Why is septembre not capitalized and why is there no article like le septembre?

No capital letter:
In French, months and days of the week are written with a lowercase letter:
- septembre, janvier, lundi, jeudi, etc.
No article:
With en
- month, you do not add an article:
- en septembre, en mars, en décembre

You can use an article in other structures, e.g. au mois de septembre (in the month of September), but not with en + month.

Why is the verb in the present tense (nous changeons) if it refers to the future?

French often uses the present tense for future events when they are scheduled, planned, or certain, especially with a time expression:

En septembre, nous changeons l’horaire…
= In September, we’re changing the schedule… / we change the schedule…

Similar to English: In September, we change the Thursday schedule.

You could also say:

En septembre, nous allons changer l’horaire… (near future, we are going to change)
En septembre, nous changerons l’horaire… (simple future)

All three are possible; the present here is natural and common.

Why nous changeons instead of on change?

Both are grammatically correct:

nous changeons – more formal, typical in writing, official announcements, emails.
on change – very common in everyday speech, more informal, often used instead of nous in conversation.

This sentence looks like something from an announcement or notice, so nous changeons fits that more formal, neutral tone.

Why is it changeons with an extra e and not changons?

The verb changer ends in -ger. For -ger verbs, the nous form in the present tense adds an e before -ons to keep the soft [ʒ] sound:

je change
tu changes
il/elle/on change
nous changeons
vous changez
ils/elles changent

Without the e (changons), the g would be pronounced hard, like the g in gare, which is not correct here.

What exactly does changer l’horaire mean, and how is it different from changer de something?

Changer l’horaire is a direct object construction: you are actively modifying the schedule itself.

changer quelque chose = to change something
- Nous changeons l’horaire. = We are changing the schedule.

Changer de is used when you switch from one thing to another (you are no longer with the old one):

changer de chemise = to change shirts
changer d’avis = to change (one’s) mind
changer de travail = to change jobs

With horaire, you could say changer d’horaire (with elision) meaning to change schedule (to another schedule), but:

changer l’horaire = you’re modifying that schedule
changer d’horaire = you’re replacing it with a different schedule

In this sentence, they’re updating/adjusting the existing Thursday schedule, so changer l’horaire is a natural choice.

What does l’horaire mean here? Is it the same as le calendrier or l’emploi du temps?

L’horaire usually means a schedule of times (hours) for something:

train/bus timetables
opening hours
class or work schedules in terms of at what time things start/finish

Related words:

l’emploi du temps – timetable / schedule of activities (which activity when), especially for a person (student’s timetable).
le planning (informal/businessy) – planning/schedule, often a project or work schedule.
le calendrier – calendar (days, dates of the year), not the daily hours.

Here, l’horaire du jeudi is the Thursday timetable/schedule, focusing on the times (starting earlier, etc.), not the calendar itself.

Why do we use l’ before horaire but du before jeudi?

Two different grammar points:

l’horaire:
- horaire is masculine singular: un horaire.
- With le before a vowel or a silent h, le becomes l’:
  - l’horaire = the schedule.
du jeudi:
- du = de + le.
- Literally: l’horaire du jeudi = the schedule of the Thursday → idiomatically the Thursday schedule.

So we have:

l’horaire (definite, specific schedule)
du jeudi (of Thursday / for Thursday)

What does du jeudi mean exactly? Is it about one Thursday or all Thursdays?

L’horaire du jeudi normally means the schedule for Thursdays in general, i.e. the usual Thursday timetable.

Context clues:

There is no specific date mentioned, just jeudi.
It’s about an horaire, which is usually a recurring schedule.

So the sentence is understood as the Thursday schedule (each Thursday) will be changed in September, not just a single specific Thursday.

If they meant a specific date, they’d usually add more detail: l’horaire du jeudi 15 septembre, for example.

Why not just say En septembre, nous changeons le jeudi?

Changer le jeudi would be unclear or odd. It would sound like you are changing the day Thursday itself, not its schedule.

You typically:

change l’horaire (schedule)
change les heures (hours)
change l’heure de début (start time), etc.

So you need to specify what about Thursday you are changing. L’horaire du jeudi makes it clear that it’s the Thursday schedule, not the day of the week itself.

How does pour commencer plus tôt work? Is pour here like in order to?

Yes. Here pour + infinitive expresses purpose:

pour commencer plus tôt = in order to start earlier / so that we start earlier.

Structure:

pour
- infinitive → purpose of the action in the main clause.
  - Nous changeons l’horaire … pour commencer plus tôt.

You don’t say pour le commencer plus tôt because commencer here is intransitive (just to start), not to start it. The understood subject of commencer is we (the same nous as in nous changeons).

Could we use afin de instead of pour?

Yes, grammatically:

En septembre, nous changeons l’horaire du jeudi afin de commencer plus tôt.

Afin de + infinitive also means in order to, but it is more formal and a bit heavier in everyday speech. Pour is shorter and very natural in both spoken and written French, especially in a practical announcement like this.

What is the difference between plus tôt and plutôt?

They sound very similar but mean different things and are written differently:

plus tôt (two words)
- literally more early → earlier
- Nous commençons plus tôt. = We start earlier.
plutôt (one word)
- means rather / instead / quite
- Je viendrai plutôt demain. = I’ll come rather / instead tomorrow.
- C’est plutôt bien. = It’s quite good.

In this sentence, you must use plus tôt (earlier), because it’s about starting at an earlier time.

Why is plus tôt at the end of the sentence? Could it go elsewhere?

The normal, natural order is:

… pour commencer plus tôt.

Plus tôt comes right after the verb commencer, which it modifies. That’s the usual place for adverbs of time in this kind of structure.

Other options like pour plus tôt commencer are grammatically possible but sound unnatural or overly formal/poetic in modern French. For everyday usage and clarity, verb + plus tôt is the standard pattern.

Is there any liaison or tricky pronunciation in this sentence?

A few points:

En septembre:
- En has a nasal vowel [ɑ̃].
- septembre: the p is silent; final -bre is [br].
nous changeons:
- There is a liaison: nous ends in s, so it links to changeons → [nu ʃɑ̃ʒɔ̃].
- changeons has the nasal -ons sound [ɔ̃] at the end.
l’horaire:
- The h is silent, hence the elision l’.
- Pronounced roughly [lɔʁɛʁ] (final -e is barely pronounced in many accents).
du jeudi:
- du → [dy]
- jeudi → [ʒødi]; the j is like the s in measure.
plus tôt:
- Final s of plus is silent before a consonant here: [ply to], not [plys].