A reader of OffQc asks how to say looking forward (to it) and looking forward to the weekend. You can use j’ai hâte, which means I’m looking forward to it or I can’t wait. If you want to say what it is that you’re looking forward to, use the preposition à before it:
J’ai hâte à la fin de semaine.
I’m looking forward to the weekend.
I can’t wait for the weekend.
J’ai hâte à lundi.
I’m looking forward to Monday.
I can’t wait for Monday.
J’ai hâte à l’été.
I’m looking forward to the summer.
I can’t wait for the summer.
But use de before a verb in the infinitive:
J’ai hâte de partir en vacances.
I’m looking forward to leaving on holiday.
I can’t wait to leave on holiday.
J’ai hâte de faire ça.
I’m looking forward to doing it.
I can’t wait to do it.
Use que before a subject, followed by the subjunctive:
J’ai hâte que tu viennes.
I’m looking forward to you coming.
I can’t wait for you to come.
J’ai hâte qu’il fasse chaud.
I’m looking forward to it being hot out.
I can’t wait for it to be hot out.
J’ai hâte à la fin de semaine!
Pronunciation
Hâte sounds a little like the English word ought. That’s because the h is silent, and the â resembles something falling in between the English aw and ow sounds. (That’s the Québécois pronunciation; a European speaker pronounces hâte like the English word at.)
Fin de semaine is pronounced spontaneously as fin d’semaine. But when this contraction occurs, the d’ is in fact pronounced like a t. This means fin d’semaine sounds like fin t’semaine. To say it, say fin with a t sound on the end of it, then say semaine.
À la, maybe you’ll remember, often contracts to à’ in spontaneous speech. (It sounds like an ever-so-slightly longer à.) This means à la fin de semaine can be pronounced spontaneously as à’ fin t’semaine.
Try saying j’ai hâte à la fin de semaine again, using this knowledge.
Hâte –> haste
The circumflex accent in French (e.g., in words like forêt, arrêt, hâte) can replace what used to be an s. English conserved that s: forest, arrest, haste. J’ai hâte literally means “I have haste.”
