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"I have to go to class in ten minutes."

What is the proper translation of the sentence, especially the part "go to class"?

Is it

Je dois aller à la classe dans dix minutes.

or

Je dois aller à la salle de classe dans dix minutes.

or

Je dois aller en classe dans dix minutes.

I think "en classe" means "in class" so it shouldn't be correct.

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2 Answers 2

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Even though it might sound incorrect, the best way to translate this sentence would be the last sentence:

Je dois aller en classe dans dix minutes.

Do note though that in France, we usually do not say that we go "en classe", but "en cours". So nearly all of the time, you will hear people say:

Je dois aller en cours dans dix minutes.

Your second (and first one too somehow) sentence would be translated as:

I have to go to the classroom in ten minutes.

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3
  • +1 For what it's worth I agree that "en classe" is the best way to express "to class," but maybe using "être" instead of "aller" would sound less weird to the OP (although I guess it would/could change the meaning a bit).
    – Papa Poule
    Dec 29, 2016 at 15:42
  • I have to add that practically no-one says "aller en classe". Maybe it feels like the closest translation, but the right one is "aller en cours". "Class" is either the physical room or the group of student working together during a year. By the way, "a math class" is "un cours de math".
    – Teleporting Goat
    Jan 2, 2017 at 9:22
  • @TeleportingGoat I have to agree on this. I translated it this way to answer the way to use the word "classe" in such a sentence. But you would just say "Je vais en cours". I will modify my answer this way.
    – Izukani
    Jan 2, 2017 at 12:20
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The English "class" is usually translated into French by cours. So I would say :

Je dois aller en cours dans dix minutes.
Il faut que je sois en cours dans dix minutes.

If you actually mean the place, as some people use "class" for "classroom", then you could say:

Il faut que je sois en classe dans dix minutes.
Je dois aller en classe dans dix minutes.

But note that classe would only be used by a student at secondary level and not at university level.

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