Are "à temps" and "à l'heure" not interchangeable?

Question

Bonjour.

I used the first one in a quiz to fill in the blank, and it was marked wrong: "Étais-tu ________ (à temps) pour ton rendez-vous? Were you on time for your appointment?"

But à temps was used in another quiz: "Il court ________ (pour) arriver au travail à temps. He runs [in order] to get to work on time."

Answer

Hi Sherry - that's a great question. The distinction between "à temps" and "à l'heure" is very much like the nuance between "in time" vs "on time" in English. So, depending on the context, they can be interchangeable, but if you want to get across something happening in advance of some deadline or event then use "à temps" (in time), whereas if you want to talk about something happening punctually with respect to a specific time then use  "à l'heure" (on time). The wording in English is never going to be so clear cut, but it helps convey the nuances in the two meanings.

Hope that helps!

Answer

It does help. Merci, Gruff!