Notice how the expression Il est is impersonal and remains constant while telling time.
Temporal Prepositions
We tell time in various other ways besides expressing the hour of the day. Below are a list of French temporal prepositions and when to use them in different contexts.
à - = at a specific time (hour or moment in time)
Vous parlez au patron à 8h du matin.
You speak to the boss at 8 o’clock in the morning.
en - when an event occurs for a particular length in time or during a month, season, or year
Je préfère faire des promenades en automne.
I prefer to take walks in the fall.
dans - tells the amount of time before an action starts
Les filles se présentent dans 10 minutes.
The girls are introducing themselves in 10 minutes.
depuis - expresses the duration of action that is still actively occurring (or shows an action that was happening when another event took place)
Le bébé dort depuis deux heures !
The baby has been sleeping for two hours.
pendant - indicates the entire duration of an event
durant - indicates the entire duration of an event
Nous avons dîné au restaurant pendant/durant trois heures.
We ate dinner in the restaurant for three hours.
pour - expressions the duration of an action/event in the future
Je vais en France pour deux mois l’année prochaine.
I am going to France for two months next year.
Notice how not all temporal prepositions translate literally. Many of them literally translate to “for [a certain amount of time],” so it’s important to understand the context of each French sentence.
