French Expression of the Day: Du mat'
The French love to use the 24 hour clock, but this phrase can be used for emphasis nonetheless.
Why do I need to know du mat'?
Because time is a construct of human perception.
What does it mean?
Du mat', pronounced do-matte, means in the morning.
It is a shortened way of saying du matin.
Matin itself comes from the Latin word, matutinum (morning).
Typically, French people are accustomed to describing the time according to a 24-hour clock.
9am would be neuf heures, while 9pm would be vingt-et-un heures.
But if you want to emphasise the fact that something takes place in the morning, you can say neuf heures du mat'.
Il conduisait avec 2 grammes d’alcool dans le sang à 9 heures du mat' - He drove with 2g of alcohol in his blood at 9 o'clock in the morning.
Le changement d'heure d'été a toujours lieu le dernier week-end de mars, à 2 heures du mat' - The changing of the clocks in the summer has always taken place during the last weekend of March at 2am.
Des transporteurs routiers ont commencé à bloquer l'accès à l'A1 vers 4h du mat' - The hauliers began to block access to the A1 motorway at 4am.
Other matin expressions
Au petit matin - At dawn
De bon matin - Early in the morning
La fraîcheur du matin - The start of the morning
Une matinale - A breakfast news show
Une matinée - A cultural performance, like a concert or a play, that takes place in the morning or afternoon
Être du matin - To be a morning person
Un de ces quatre matins - One of these days
L'étoile du matin - the morning star, an alternative name for the planet Venus
Faire la grasse matinée - To have a lie in
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Why do I need to know du mat'?
Because time is a construct of human perception.
What does it mean?
Du mat', pronounced do-matte, means in the morning.
It is a shortened way of saying du matin.
Matin itself comes from the Latin word, matutinum (morning).
Typically, French people are accustomed to describing the time according to a 24-hour clock.
9am would be neuf heures, while 9pm would be vingt-et-un heures.
But if you want to emphasise the fact that something takes place in the morning, you can say neuf heures du mat'.
Il conduisait avec 2 grammes d’alcool dans le sang à 9 heures du mat' - He drove with 2g of alcohol in his blood at 9 o'clock in the morning.
Le changement d'heure d'été a toujours lieu le dernier week-end de mars, à 2 heures du mat' - The changing of the clocks in the summer has always taken place during the last weekend of March at 2am.
Des transporteurs routiers ont commencé à bloquer l'accès à l'A1 vers 4h du mat' - The hauliers began to block access to the A1 motorway at 4am.
Other matin expressions
Au petit matin - At dawn
De bon matin - Early in the morning
La fraîcheur du matin - The start of the morning
Une matinale - A breakfast news show
Une matinée - A cultural performance, like a concert or a play, that takes place in the morning or afternoon
Être du matin - To be a morning person
Un de ces quatre matins - One of these days
L'étoile du matin - the morning star, an alternative name for the planet Venus
Faire la grasse matinée - To have a lie in
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