⏳5️⃣❓

How to Say ‘Do you have five minutes?’ in French

Vous avez cinq minutes ?

voo ah-VAY sank mee-NEWT

[voo ah-VAY sank mee-NEWT]

🇫🇷 In France: A polite way to catch your manager for a quick private word. In France it's normal to ask for this time first, rather than raising salary out of nowhere.

Phrase Breakdown

Vous avez

voo ah-VAY

Do you have

Link the two words with a z sound: 'voo-za-VAY'. Rising intonation turns it into a question.

Example

Vous avez un stylo ?

Do you have a pen?

Words in this phrase

Vous

[voo]

you

Used to refer to the person or people being addressed.

Example

Vous aimez le film?

Do you like the movie?

avez

[ah-VAY]

have

Auxiliary 'avoir' (vous form) used to build the past tense.

Example

Vous avez mangé ?

Have you eaten?

cinq minutes ?

sank mee-NEWT

five minutes?

Pronounce the 'q' in 'cinq' here: 'sank mee-NOOT'.

Example

J'arrive dans cinq minutes.

I'll be there in five minutes.

Words in this phrase

cinq

[sank]

five

The number 5.

Example

J'ai cinq montres.

I have five watches.

minutes

[mee-NEWT]

minutes

Plural of 'minute', units of time.

Example

Attendez cinq minutes.

Wait five minutes.

Guides for French learners

The Most Common French Verbs: the 20 You'll Actually UseThe 20 most common French verbs, with the present-tense forms you need, real example sentences with native audio, and two shortcuts for past and future.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.

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