- Forum >
- Topic: French >
- "As-tu l'heure ?"
"As-tu l'heure ?"
Translation:Do you have the time?
29 Comments
479
"You have the time." means "you" have the time to do do something, which is quite different from asking "Do you have the time?" meaning you are asking "if" the person has the time to do something or do they know what the time is.
275
For those unfamiliar with the phrase, "Do you have the time?"...
This is a common colloquialism, at least in the English language. It isn't uncommon for a stranger to stop me on the street and ask, "Do you have the time?" when they want to know what time it is.
Sometimes it's ridiculous. While in the notes Duolingo itself proclaims that in English articles may be omitted (in Basics itself!!!), when it comes to translating from French to English, Duo shows no flexibility.
To save the time of people who practice, I suggest that Duo puts 'the' in brackets in answers wherever it may be omitted, and move on!!!!
Having said that, no leniency is required when translation from English to French.
783
This was a phrase that totally caught me out the first time I visited Paris with my schoolboy French. I was on the metro and a teenager asked me "tu as l'heure?" To start with, I thought he was asking me "tu a l'air?". At school, we were taught "Quelle heure est-il?" Fortunately he knew how to ask it in English, and asked in good Schoolboy English "What time is it?"
So you might see these phrases on Duolingo and wonder if there is any point . However, if I had learnt the more colloquial " Tu as l'heure?" and he had learnt "Have you got the time?" it might have gone smoother.