Saying 'from ... to ...' + dates and times

Posted by Aurélie Drouard

In: Level A2, Numbers, Time & Date, Préposition

Questions: 10

To express an interval (from ... to ...) in French, you will use either de ... à ... or the contracted form du ... au ... (de + le ... à + le ...) depending on what follows.
 

1 - du ... au ... (literally: from the ... to the ...) is used when the definite article le is normally present in French:

- between two dates

Note that, like for dates in general, you don't use ordinal numbers (except for 1st: premier) and you don't need the of in front of the month.
See Expressing dates in French

- between two days of the week in a repetitive context (e.g. from Mondays to Fridays):

Note that you use the singular form of the day. You never say des lundis aux vendredis
See Using le with days of the week + weekend

2 - de ... à ... (literally: from ... to ...) is used in cases where le is not present in French:

- between two times:

See Telling the time in French - simple

- between two months:

- between two days of the week in a one-time, specific context (e.g. from Monday to Friday):

Q&A

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Ben

Kwiziq community member

22 April 2018

2 replies

Quiz question Le bureau de poste est ouvert aujourd'hui ________ onze heures.

The answer given was 'de dix à'.

Why is it not 'de dix heures à' ?

Chris

Kwiziq community member

23 April 2018

23/04/18

Hi Ben,

... de dix à onze heures -- from 10 to 11 o'clock.
... de dix heures à onze heures -- from 10 o'clock to 11 o'clock.

It's just as correct but wordier.

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Barry

Kwiziq community member

14 January 2019

14/01/19

It seems just as correct, but it was ruled incorrect when I answered as such (de dix heures à onze heures). It only accepted  "de dix à onze heures" as the correct answer. 

Barry

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William

Kwiziq community member

10 May 2017

2 replies

Quiz question 'Je suis en vacances du neuf au treize juillet.'

Shouldn't the quiz question use the de (vs du) form because we're talking about specific dates? It seems unlikely I would have the 9th thru 13th off every year?

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

12 May 2017

12/05/17

Bonjour William ! The lesson explains that you need "du...au..." when the expression would normally use "le", which is the case for dates: You say "le 9 juillet" or "le 13 juillet", therefore you will use "de + le (du)... à + le (au) ...." with dates. Have a look at this related lesson: https://french.kwiziq.com/revision/grammar/how-dates-are-expressed-in-french I hope that's helpful! À bientôt !

William

Kwiziq community member

12 May 2017

12/05/17

Merci Aurélie pour l'explication...! Bon week-end!

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Jayne

Kwiziq community member

28 November 2016

1 reply

I just dont get the difference between de...à ..and.de..du...they e both used in between dates?

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

29 November 2016

29/11/16

Bonjour Jayne ! The difference here is between "de...à" (from...to) and the contracted forms "du...au" (from *the*...to *the*). So with days of the week for example, you use: - "de...à" for specific days (from Monday to Sunday), because to say "on Monday" in French, you don't use the definite article ("Lundi, je suis allé au marché."). - "du...au" for general days (from Mondays to Sundays), because you use the definite article when generalising in French ("Le lundi, je vais à la piscine."). Same issue with dates: you use "du...au" because to express dates in French, you always use the definite article ("le 16 juin 2016"). I hope that's helpful! À bientôt !

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Joakim

Kwiziq community member

14 July 2016

1 reply

Month intervals

If you want to specifically say that a museum is open may-october every year as a "repeated occurrence", can you then use "du mai au octobre"?

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

14 July 2016

14/07/16

Bonjour Joakim ! In the case of months, you will use "de...à..." instead of "du...au...", as follows: "de mai à octobre" À bientôt !

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