Expressing timeliness in French - late/early/on time - general can be extended to say precisely how late...
How to say precisely how late or early you'll be in French
Here are some sentences:
To indicate the degree of timeliness (to be [5 minutes] late/early) in French, you can use these two expressions:
late -> avoir [5 minutes] de retard OR être en retard de [5 minutes]
early -> avoir [5 minutes] d'avance OR être en avance de [5 minutes]
ATTENTION:
In sentences with arriver/venir/commencer/finir, you will use either:
avec [5 minutes] de retard / avec [5 minutes] d'avance
or
[5 minutes] en retard / [5 minutes] en avance
Je suis arrivé dix minutes en retard.I arrived ten minutes late
La réunion a commencé une demi-heure en avanceThe meeting started half an hour early
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Examples and resources
Le concert a fini une heure en retard.The concert ended one hour late.
La réunion a commencé une demi-heure en avanceThe meeting started half an hour early
Je suis arrivé dix minutes en retard.I arrived ten minutes late
Il est venu une heure en avance.He came an hour early.