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L'heure du départ est indiquée sur le billet.

L'heure du départ est indiquée sur le billet.
The departure time is indicated on the ticket.
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Questions & Answers about L'heure du départ est indiquée sur le billet.

Why is it l'heure and not le heure?

Because heure begins with a mute h in French. A mute h behaves like a vowel sound, so le becomes l' before it.

So:

  • le heure → incorrect
  • l'heure → correct

This is called elision.

What does du mean in du départ?

Du is the contraction of de + le.

So:

  • de le départ → contracts to du départ

Here, du départ means of the departure.

This is very common in French:

  • le nom du train = the name of the train
  • la porte du bus = the door of the bus
Why is it l'heure du départ instead of l'heure de départ?

Both can exist, but they are not always felt in exactly the same way.

  • l'heure de départ often means departure time as a general label or category
  • l'heure du départ can sound more like the time of the departure, referring to a specific departure

In many real situations, both are possible, and the difference is often small. In this sentence, l'heure du départ is perfectly natural.

Why is indiquée feminine?

Because this sentence uses the passive voice:

  • est indiquée = is indicated

With être, the past participle agrees with the subject. The subject here is l'heure, and heure is a feminine singular noun.

So the participle becomes:

  • masculine singular: indiqué
  • feminine singular: indiquée
  • masculine plural: indiqués
  • feminine plural: indiquées

Because l'heure is feminine singular, we get indiquée.

Is est indiquée a verb or an adjective?

In this sentence, it is best understood as a passive verb form:

  • est indiquée = is indicated

It is made of:

  • est = present tense of être
  • indiquée = past participle of indiquer

So the full structure is passive, not just a simple adjective.

A more active version would be:

  • On indique l'heure du départ sur le billet. = They / people indicate the departure time on the ticket.
Why is sur le billet used here?

Sur usually means on. Here it means the information appears on the ticket.

So:

  • sur le billet = on the ticket

This is the natural preposition when something is written or printed on a surface or document.

For example:

  • Le prix est indiqué sur l'étiquette.
  • Votre nom est écrit sur la liste.
Why is it le billet and not un billet?

Le billet means the ticket, referring to a specific ticket, probably the one already being talked about.

French often uses the definite article when the thing is known from context.

Compare:

  • sur le billet = on the ticket
  • sur un billet = on a ticket

In this sentence, le billet sounds natural because it means the ticket in question.

What exactly does billet mean here?

Here, billet means ticket, especially for transport, travel, or admission.

Depending on context, billet can mean things like:

  • a train ticket
  • a plane ticket
  • an event ticket

For many travel situations, billet is the normal word.

How is this sentence pronounced?

A careful pronunciation would be roughly:

l'heure du départ est indiquée sur le billet

A few useful points:

  • l'heure sounds like leur at the beginning, but without a strong l in English style
  • départ has a clear é sound at the start
  • est indiquée may link smoothly in speech
  • the final -ée in indiquée sounds like ay

A rough English-style approximation is:

luhr du day-par ay-tan-dee-kay sur luh bee-yay

That is only approximate, but it may help at first.

Why is there no word for the before departure in English, but French has du départ?

French and English do not build noun phrases in exactly the same way.

English often uses:

  • departure time

French more often uses a structure with de:

  • l'heure du départ
  • l'heure de départ

So even if English uses departure directly before time, French usually needs a linking word such as de.

This is a very common difference between the two languages.

Could I also say Le billet indique l'heure du départ?

Yes. That would be an active-style way to express a very similar idea:

  • Le billet indique l'heure du départ. = The ticket indicates the departure time.

The original sentence uses the passive:

  • L'heure du départ est indiquée sur le billet. = The departure time is indicated on the ticket.

Both are natural. The passive version focuses more on the departure time, while the active version focuses more on the ticket.

Why is the sentence ordered this way?

French sentence order here is very standard:

  • L'heure du départ = subject
  • est indiquée = verb in the passive
  • sur le billet = place / location phrase

So the pattern is basically:

subject + verb + complement

This is normal and very close to English:

  • The departure time is indicated on the ticket.

That is one reason this sentence is relatively easy for English speakers once the grammar details are understood.