trois heures et demie
The phrase half past three in French is trois heures et demie.
This phrase is used to express the specific time that is thirty minutes after three o'clock.
What does it mean word for word?
The word demie means half.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word demie is the feminine form of demi because it agrees with the feminine noun heure.
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly use the masculine demi instead of the feminine demie to agree with heure.
Did you know?
- When writing the time, the phrase trois heures et demie is often abbreviated to 3h30. Using the 'h' for 'heures' is the standard French way to separate hours from minutes.
- The word heure comes from the Latin hōra, which was borrowed from the Greek hōra, meaning 'season' or 'time of day'.
- The 't' in the word et was actually an artificial addition by medieval scholars. It was added to the Old French 'e' specifically to make the word look more like its Latin ancestor, 'et'.
Examples in context
- Il est trois heures et demie.It's half past three.This sentence is useful for stating the time.Tatoeba #794536 by U2FS, translation #4414120 by AlanF_US
- Où vas-tu ? Il est presque trois heures et demie.Where are you going? It's almost half past three.This sentence shows how to use the phrase when talking about time being almost reached.Tatoeba #12987351 by carlosalberto, translation #8848870 by carlosalberto
- « Quelle heure est-il maintenant ? » « Il est trois heures et demie. »"What time is it now?" "It's half past three."This sentence shows how to use the phrase in response to a question about the current time.Tatoeba #12833931 by Adelpa, translation #12786780 by sundown
- L'assemblée débutera à trois heures et demie précises.The meeting will begin at precisely half past three.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Gabriel and Manon are discussing when to meet for coffee.
- ManonGabriel, tu es libre à quelle heure ?Gabriel, what time are you free?
- GabrielJe suis disponible à trois heures et demie.I am available at half past three.
- ManonParfait, on se retrouve à la gare ?Perfect, shall we meet at the station?
- GabrielOui, à tout à l'heure, Manon.Yes, see you soon, Manon.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries et, trois, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
