French 1 Quiz: Telling Time And Schedules
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Telling Time And SchedulesQuestion 1 of 10

Laquelle de ces phrases exprime correctement l'idée que l'on est en retard de vingt minutes par rapport à une réunion qui devait commencer à huit heures ?

« La réunion a commencé il y a vingt minutes ; il est maintenant huit heures vingt. »
« La réunion commence dans vingt minutes ; il est maintenant sept heures quarante. »
« La réunion a commencé il y a vingt minutes ; il est maintenant sept heures quarante. »
« La réunion commence dans vingt minutes ; il est maintenant huit heures vingt. »
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French 1 Quiz

French 1 Quiz: Telling Time And Schedules

Practice Telling Time And Schedules in French 1 with focused quiz questions that help you check what you know, review explanations, and build confidence with test-style prompts.

What this quiz covers

This quiz focuses on Telling Time And Schedules, giving you a quick way to practice the rules, question types, and explanations that matter most for French 1.

How to use this quiz

Try each quiz question before looking at the correct answer. Use the explanations to review missed ideas, then come back to similar questions until the pattern feels familiar.

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Question 1

Laquelle de ces phrases exprime correctement l'idée que l'on est en retard de vingt minutes par rapport à une réunion qui devait commencer à huit heures ?

  1. « La réunion a commencé il y a vingt minutes ; il est maintenant huit heures vingt. » (correct answer)
  2. « La réunion commence dans vingt minutes ; il est maintenant sept heures quarante. »
  3. « La réunion a commencé il y a vingt minutes ; il est maintenant sept heures quarante. »
  4. « La réunion commence dans vingt minutes ; il est maintenant huit heures vingt. »
Explanation: When expressing being late to an event in French, you need to think carefully about two things working together: the tense of the verb (past vs. future) and the clock time that logically follows from the scenario. If a meeting was supposed to start at 8:00 and you are 20 minutes late, the meeting has already begun — meaning the current time must be 8:20. Choice A is correct because it uses the passé composé ("a commencé") to indicate the meeting already started, and places the current time at huit heures vingt (8:20). Everything is logically consistent: the meeting started 20 minutes ago, so it is now 8:20. ✓ Choice B gets the verb tense backwards — "commence dans vingt minutes" means the meeting hasn't started yet and is still 20 minutes away. At 7:40, you wouldn't be late at all; you'd actually be early. This describes the opposite situation. Choice C contains a contradictory combination: it says the meeting started 20 minutes ago (past tense, correct), but then claims the current time is 7:40. If it started 20 minutes ago at 7:40, that would mean it began at 7:20 — not at 8:00 as the problem specifies. The time and tense don't align. Choice D pairs a future-tense verb ("commence dans vingt minutes") with the time 8:20, which is also contradictory — if it's already 8:20, a meeting scheduled for 8:00 cannot be starting "in twenty minutes." Study tip: Always cross-check verb tense and clock time together. If you use a past tense, the current time must be after the scheduled start; if you use a future tense, it must be before.

Question 2

Marie regarde son emploi du temps. Son cours de biologie commence à quatorze heures trente et dure une heure et quart.

À quelle heure le cours de biologie de Marie se termine-t-il ?

  1. À quinze heures quarante-cinq, car on ajoute une heure et quart à l'heure de début. (correct answer)
  2. À seize heures, car on ajoute une heure et demie à l'heure de début.
  3. À quinze heures trente, car on ajoute seulement une heure à l'heure de début.
  4. À quinze heures quinze, car on ajoute quarante-cinq minutes à l'heure de début.
Explanation: When a question asks you to find an ending time in French, you need to do two things: read the start time carefully, then add the duration accurately — paying close attention to French time expressions like et quart (quarter past = 15 minutes) and et demie (half past = 30 minutes). Here, Marie's biology class starts at 14h30 and lasts une heure et quart — one hour and fifteen minutes. Adding 1h15 to 14h30 gives you 15h45, or quinze heures quarante-cinq. That makes A the correct answer. Looking at the wrong choices: B says the class ends at 16h00, which would require adding une heure et demie (1 hour 30 minutes) — but the passage clearly says et quart, not et demie. This is a classic vocabulary swap trap. C claims the end time is 15h30 by adding only one full hour, ignoring the et quart portion entirely — a partial reading error. D says 15h15 by adding only 45 minutes, which confuses trois quarts d'heure (45 minutes) with un quart d'heure (15 minutes). A useful study tip: memorize the four key French time fractions — et quart (15 min), et demie (30 min), moins le quart (45 min into the hour, or 15 min before the next), and trois quarts (45 min). On time-calculation questions, always identify these expressions first before doing any arithmetic — mixing them up accounts for nearly every wrong answer on questions like this.

Question 3

Voici le programme matinal de Lucas : il prend son petit-déjeuner pendant trente minutes, puis il prend le bus pendant quarante-cinq minutes avant d'arriver à l'université.

Si Lucas veut arriver à l'université à neuf heures exactement, à quelle heure doit-il commencer son petit-déjeuner ?

  1. Il doit commencer à sept heures quinze, car le petit-déjeuner et le trajet totalisent une heure quarante-cinq.
  2. Il doit commencer à sept heures trente, car le petit-déjeuner et le trajet totalisent une heure trente.
  3. Il doit commencer à sept heures, car le petit-déjeuner et le trajet totalisent exactement deux heures.
  4. Il doit commencer à sept heures quarante-cinq, car le petit-déjeuner et le trajet totalisent une heure quinze. (correct answer)
Explanation: When a question asks you to work backwards from an arrival time, the key skill is reverse time calculation: add up the total time needed, then subtract from the target time to find the start time. Here, Lucas does two things before arriving at university: he eats breakfast for 30 minutes, then rides the bus for 45 minutes. Adding these together gives a total of 75 minutes, which equals one hour and fifteen minutes. To find when he must start, subtract that from his target arrival time of 9h00: 9h00−1h15=7h459\text{h}00 - 1\text{h}15 = 7\text{h}45 So Lucas must begin his breakfast at sept heures quarante-cinq — making D the correct answer. Now let's look at where the other choices go wrong. A claims the total is one hour forty-five (105 minutes), which would mean Lucas is spending 75 extra minutes doing... nothing. That inflates the total incorrectly. B states a total of one hour thirty (90 minutes), which doesn't match 30 + 45 = 75 minutes — this is a careless addition error. C says the total is exactly two hours (120 minutes), which is even further off and would make Lucas start far too early. A helpful tip: on time-calculation questions in French, always write out both durations in minutes first, add them, then convert back to hours and minutes before subtracting. This two-step process prevents the kind of arithmetic slip that traps you into choosing A, B, or C.

Question 4

Julien dit : « Mon train part à dix-neuf heures moins le quart. » Quelle heure est-il en format standard (12h) ?

  1. Il est six heures quarante-cinq du soir, ce qui correspond à dix-huit heures quarante-cinq. (correct answer)
  2. Il est sept heures et quart du soir, ce qui correspond à dix-neuf heures quinze.
  3. Il est six heures cinquante du soir, ce qui correspond à dix-huit heures cinquante.
  4. Il est sept heures du soir, ce qui correspond exactement à dix-neuf heures.
Explanation: When reading French time expressions, you need to handle two separate conversions: the 24-hour clock and the "moins" (minus) structure. Mastering both together is the key to questions like this one. Start with "dix-neuf heures" — that's 19:00 in 24-hour time, which equals 7:00 PM. Now apply "moins le quart," which literally means "minus a quarter (hour)." A quarter of an hour is 15 minutes, so you subtract: 19h00 − 0h15 = 18h45. In 12-hour format, 18h45 is 6:45 PM — six heures quarante-cinq du soir. That makes A the correct answer. B is a classic trap: it adds 15 minutes instead of subtracting, giving 19h15 (7:15 PM). "Moins" means minus, not plus — don't confuse "moins le quart" with "et quart." C arrives at 18h50, which doesn't correspond to any standard French time expression linked to this phrase. It may result from confusing "quart" (15 min) with another fraction, or from a random arithmetic error. D simply ignores the "moins le quart" altogether and treats "dix-neuf heures" as the final answer — a careless reading error that drops the most important part of the sentence. Study tip: In French, time expressions follow a clear pattern — "et quart" (+15), "et demie" (+30), "moins le quart" (−15), and "moins..." (subtract). Always identify whether you're adding or subtracting before you convert to 12-hour format.

Question 5

Sophie a cours le lundi de neuf heures à onze heures trente, et le mercredi de quatorze heures à seize heures quinze.

Combien d'heures de cours Sophie a-t-elle en tout pendant ces deux jours ?

  1. Elle a quatre heures quarante-cinq de cours en tout pendant ces deux jours. (correct answer)
  2. Elle a cinq heures quinze de cours en tout pendant ces deux jours.
  3. Elle a quatre heures trente de cours en tout pendant ces deux jours.
  4. Elle a cinq heures de cours en tout pendant ces deux jours.
Explanation: When a French question asks you to calculate total class time, you need to treat it like a math problem — but in French time format. First, calculate each day's duration separately, then add them together. For Monday: Sophie has class from 9h00 to 11h30. That's exactly 2 hours 30 minutes. For Wednesday: She has class from 14h00 to 16h15. That's exactly 2 hours 15 minutes. Now add them together: 2h 30min+2h 15min=4h 45min2\text{h }30\text{min} + 2\text{h }15\text{min} = 4\text{h }45\text{min} That gives us quatre heures quarante-cinq, which matches answer A — the correct choice. Answer B (cinq heures quinze) is a common trap: students sometimes add an extra 30 minutes, perhaps by misreading 11h30 as a 3-hour block from 9h00, or by making an arithmetic error when combining the two sessions. Answer C (quatre heures trente) comes from correctly calculating Monday's 2h30 but then miscalculating Wednesday's session as only 2 hours flat, ignoring the 15-minute portion. Answer D (cinq heures) likely results from rounding both sessions up or confusing the end times entirely. A useful strategy: when solving French time problems, always work in two steps — duration per day first, then total. Write out your subtraction clearly using the 24-hour clock format (which French commonly uses), so you don't accidentally misread "seize heures quinze" as a different time. Small errors in reading time vocabulary are the most frequent source of mistakes on these questions.

Question 6

Le musée ouvre à neuf heures du matin et ferme à dix-sept heures trente. Il est actuellement midi et quart.

Combien de temps reste-t-il avant la fermeture du musée ?

  1. Il reste cinq heures avant la fermeture, car de midi et quart à dix-sept heures trente il y a cinq heures exactement.
  2. Il reste cinq heures et demie avant la fermeture, car de midi et quart à dix-sept heures trente il y a cinq heures trente.
  3. Il reste quatre heures et trois quarts avant la fermeture, car de midi et quart à dix-sept heures trente il y a quatre heures quarante-cinq.
  4. Il reste cinq heures et un quart avant la fermeture, car de midi et quart à dix-sept heures trente il y a cinq heures quinze. (correct answer)
Explanation: When solving time-difference problems in French, your job is to calculate the exact gap between two times — then express that gap correctly using French time vocabulary. Here, the museum closes at dix-sept heures trente (17h30) and the current time is midi et quart (12h15). To find the remaining time, subtract: 17h30−12h15=5h1517\text{h}30 - 12\text{h}15 = 5\text{h}15 That's five hours and fifteen minutes, which in French is cinq heures et un quart — making D the correct answer. Now let's look at where the other choices go wrong. A claims the difference is exactly five hours, which would only be true if the current time were 12h30 — it ignores the 15-minute offset entirely. B gives five hours and a half (5h30), which would require the current time to be 12h00 exactly; this answer likely comes from confusing midi et quart with simply midi. C says four hours and forty-five minutes (4h45), which is a common trap — students sometimes subtract in the wrong direction, computing 12h15 + 4h45 = 17h00 instead of 17h30, missing the extra thirty minutes. A helpful strategy: always convert both times to 24-hour format before subtracting, and handle the minutes column first. If you need to "borrow," regroup carefully. Then translate your result into French: 15 minutes = un quart, 30 minutes = et demie, 45 minutes = trois quarts. Memorizing these quarter-hour expressions will save you points on time-related questions throughout the exam.

Question 7

On demande à Claire : « À quelle heure est-ce que tu te lèves ? » Elle répond : « Je me lève à six heures et demie du matin en semaine, mais le week-end je me lève deux heures plus tard. » Quelle heure se lève-t-elle le week-end ?

  1. Elle se lève à neuf heures du matin le week-end.
  2. Elle se lève à huit heures du matin le week-end.
  3. Elle se lève à huit heures et demie du matin le week-end. (correct answer)
  4. Elle se lève à sept heures et demie du matin le week-end.
Explanation: This question tests your ability to understand French time expressions and perform simple arithmetic with half-hours. When you see "deux heures plus tard" (two hours later), you need to add two hours to the original time — but be careful to carry over any minutes. Claire tells us she wakes up at six heures et demie (6:30 a.m.) during the week. Adding two hours to 6:30 gives you 8:30 a.m. — huit heures et demie du matin. That makes C the correct answer. Here's why the other choices miss the mark. A (neuf heures, 9:00 a.m.) would mean adding two and a half hours, not two — a common error if you misread deux heures as referring to "until two o'clock" rather than "two hours." B (huit heures, 8:00 a.m.) is the most tempting trap: students correctly add two hours to six heures but forget the et demie (the "and a half"), dropping the 30 minutes entirely. D (sept heures et demie, 7:30 a.m.) results from only adding one hour instead of two — a simple arithmetic slip. The key study tip here is to treat time expressions in French as two-part values: the hour and any minutes (like et demie = 30 min, et quart = 15 min). When you add or subtract time, always carry both parts through the calculation. On French exams, distractors are often designed to catch students who only process half the information — so read every time expression completely before calculating.

Question 8

Thomas travaille de huit heures à midi, puis de quatorze heures à dix-sept heures, du lundi au vendredi.

Combien d'heures Thomas travaille-t-il par semaine ?

  1. Il travaille quarante heures par semaine, soit huit heures par jour multiplié par cinq jours.
  2. Il travaille trente-cinq heures par semaine, soit sept heures par jour multiplié par cinq jours. (correct answer)
  3. Il travaille trente heures par semaine, soit six heures par jour multiplié par cinq jours.
  4. Il travaille trente-deux heures et demie par semaine, soit six heures et demie par jour multiplié par cinq jours.
Explanation: When reading schedules in French, your job is to extract the time blocks and calculate total hours — don't just read the numbers at face value. Thomas works two separate shifts each day: from 8h to 12h (midi), and from 14h to 17h. The first block covers 4 hours, and the second covers 3 hours, giving a daily total of 7 hours. Multiply that across five workdays (lundi au vendredi): 7 heures/jour×5 jours=35 heures/semaine7 \text{ heures/jour} \times 5 \text{ jours} = 35 \text{ heures/semaine} This confirms B is correct: Thomas works trente-cinq heures par semaine. Choice A claims 8 hours per day, but that would mean Thomas works continuously from 8h to 16h with no lunch break — the passage clearly shows a break from midi (12h) to 14h, which is not counted as work time. Choice C claims only 6 hours per day, which would mean a miscalculation of one of the two blocks — perhaps reading 8h–12h as 3 hours instead of 4. Choice D claims 6.5 hours per day (32.5 hours total), which doesn't match either block when calculated correctly and likely reflects confusion about where the shifts start or end. A useful strategy: when a French schedule mentions a pause déjeuner (lunch break), that gap is never counted as work time. Always identify each block separately, calculate its duration, then add them together before multiplying by the number of days. This prevents the classic trap of treating the full span from start to finish as one continuous shift.

Question 9

Quelle phrase utilise correctement une expression de temps pour indiquer une heure dans le futur proche ?

  1. « Le film commence il y a une demi-heure, alors nous partons à vingt heures trente si le film est à vingt et une heures. »
  2. « Le film commence depuis une demi-heure, alors nous partons à vingt heures trente si le film est à vingt et une heures. »
  3. « Le film commence dans une demi-heure, alors nous partons à vingt heures trente si le film est à vingt et une heures. » (correct answer)
  4. « Le film commence pendant une demi-heure, alors nous partons à vingt heures trente si le film est à vingt et une heures. »
Explanation: When talking about time in French, the preposition you choose completely changes the meaning of your sentence — this question tests whether you know which expression points to a future moment versus a past or ongoing one. To indicate that something will happen in a certain amount of time from now (future), French uses dans + time expression. Think of it as "within" or "in" — dans une demi-heure means "in half an hour," pointing forward on the timeline. Choice C uses this correctly: if the film is at 21h00 and you're leaving at 20h30, you're departing in half an hour, which makes perfect logical and grammatical sense. Here's why the other choices fail. Choice A uses il y a, which always points to the past — il y a une demi-heure means "half an hour ago." Saying the film "started half an hour ago" while also saying you haven't left yet creates a contradiction. Choice B uses depuis, which expresses duration from a past point continuing into the present — depuis une demi-heure means "for the past half hour (and still now)." Again, this places the start of the film in the past, clashing with the idea of still departing. Choice D uses pendant, which describes a span of time during which something occurs — pendant une demi-heure means "for half an hour" (duration), not a specific future moment. A quick memory trick: dans points forward (think "dans le futur"), il y a points backward, depuis means something started in the past and continues, and pendant describes how long something lasts. Keeping these four straight will serve you well throughout French-1.

Question 10

Votre ami français vous demande : « Tu as cours à quelle heure demain ? » Vous voulez dire que votre cours commence à 10h15. Quelle réponse est la plus naturelle et correcte en français ?

  1. « J'ai cours à dix heures quinze heures demain matin. »
  2. « J'ai cours à dix heures et quart demain matin. » (correct answer)
  3. « J'ai cours à dix et quart heures demain matin. »
  4. « J'ai cours à dix heures moins le quart demain matin. »
Explanation: When telling time in French, the structure follows a specific pattern: [heure] + [minutes], where the hour always comes first and is marked with the word heures. For quarter-hours, French uses the expressions et quart (quarter past), et demie (half past), and moins le quart (quarter to). For 10h15, you're expressing "quarter past ten," which translates as dix heures et quart — making B the correct and most natural answer: « J'ai cours à dix heures et quart demain matin. » Here's why the other choices fail. A is redundant and grammatically awkward — dix heures quinze heures repeats the word heures twice, as if saying "ten hours fifteen hours." You only need one heures after the hour number. C makes a structural error by placing et quart between dix and heures (dix et quart heures), which breaks French word order entirely — the quarter expression must come after the full heures marker. D uses moins le quart, which means "quarter to" (i.e., 9h45), not 10h15 — a common confusion since English speakers sometimes mix up "quarter past" and "quarter to." A useful memory trick: think of French time expressions as building in order — number + heures + extra minutes. Et quart always follows heures, never interrupts it. On exams, watch for answers that misplace heures or confuse et quart (quarter past) with moins le quart (quarter to) — these are the most frequent traps in French time questions.