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How to Say ‘Minus a quarter (quarter to)’ in French

Moins le quart

mwan luh kar

[mwan luh kar]

💬 Usage Tip: Only the quarter takes le. Other minutes go straight after moins, as in moins vingt "twenty to".

Phrase Breakdown

Moins

[mwan]

minus / to

Used to tell minutes before the hour.

Example

Il est deux heures moins dix.

It is ten to two.

[luh]

the

Used as a function word to indicate a noun and to mark the noun as definite.

Example

Le chat noir.

The black cat.

quart

[kar]

quarter

A fourth part; with 'd'heure' it means fifteen minutes.

Example

Il est trois heures et quart.

It's a quarter past three.

Guides for French learners

Ordering in French: Cafés, Bakeries and Restaurants (with Menu Vocabulary)How to order in French at a café, a bakery and a restaurant: the phrases, the questions staff ask, and the menu and food vocabulary to understand the answers.Hello in French: Greetings, Good Evening and How to Answer "How Are You?"How to say hello in French, when to switch to good evening, how to ask how are you and what to answer, with tu vs vous and native audio.

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