Learn French: Le garçon est là.

Le garçon est là.

The boy is there.

Breakdown of Le garçon est là.

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Questions & Answers about Le garçon est là.

Why is it le garçon and not la garçon?

In French, all nouns have a gender. Garçon (boy) is a masculine noun, so it uses the masculine word for "the", which is le. If the noun were feminine, like fille (girl), you would use la.

Why do we use est in this sentence?

Est is the form of the verb être (to be) that goes with il (he), elle (she), or on (we/one). Because le garçon (the boy) is a third-person singular subject—meaning you could replace it with il (he)—we use est.

What is the little mark under the 'c' in garçon?

That mark is called a cedilla (cédille). In French, a 'c' before an 'o' usually makes a hard "k" sound. Adding the cedilla changes it to a soft "s" sound. Without it, garçon would sound like "gar-kon".

Why does là have an accent mark over the 'a'?

The accent mark is there to distinguish là, which means "there" or "here", from la, which is the feminine word for "the". They sound exactly the same when spoken, so the accent tells you which meaning is intended in writing.