French Phrase
Le spectacle commence à huit heures du soir.
Meaning
The sentence means ‘The show starts at eight o’clock in the evening.’ It specifies the exact start time of a performance and uses the expression du soir to make clear that it is 8 p.m., not 8 a.m.
When to use
Use this phrase when you are giving or asking for the schedule of a theater play, concert, movie screening, or any live performance that begins in the evening.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Lespectaclecommenceàhuitheuresdusoir.
Definite article (Le)
Le is the masculine singular definite article, used here before the masculine noun spectacle.
Noun (spectacle)
Spectacle means ‘show’ or ‘performance’ and is masculine.
Verb (commence)
Commence is the third‑person singular present of commencer – ‘to start, to begin’.
Preposition for time (à)
À introduces a specific point in time, similar to ‘at’ in English.
Cardinal number (huit heures)
Huit means ‘eight’; heures is the plural of heure (hour). Together they give the exact hour.
Partitive expression (du soir)
Du is the contraction of de + le; du soir means ‘in the evening’, distinguishing 8 p.m. from 8 a.m.
🗨In Conversation
À quelle heure commence le spectacle ?
What time does the show start?
Le spectacle commence à huit heures du soir.
The show starts at eight o’clock in the evening.
✕Common Mistakes
Le spectacle commence à huit heures du matin.
Du matin means ‘in the morning’; using it here would change the meaning to 8 a.m.
Le spectacle commence à huit heures le soir.
The correct partitive form is du soir (de + le).
Le spectacle commence à huit heures du soires.
Heures is already plural; adding an extra –es is incorrect.
↔Alternatives
Le spectacle débute à 20 h.
The show begins at 8 p.m.
Le spectacle démarre à huit heures du soir.
The show kicks off at eight in the evening.
Le spectacle commence à vingt heures.
The show starts at twenty hundred hours.
Cultural Tip
In French, the 24‑hour clock is the norm for formal schedules, especially in theatres and public transport. Saying ‘huit heures du soir’ is perfectly natural in spoken French, but you’ll also often see ‘20 h’ written on posters. Remember that du soir is only used for times after roughly 6 p.m.; for morning times you would say ‘du matin’.