Learn French: Les enfants sont dans le parc. - The children are in the park.

Les enfants sont dans le parc.

The children are in the park.

Breakdown of Les enfants sont dans le parc.

Questions & Answers about Les enfants sont dans le parc.

Why does les sound like it has a 'z' at the end when spoken before enfants?

This is because of a spoken rule called a liaison. Normally, the 's' at the end of les is silent. But when the next word starts with a vowel, like enfants, you pronounce the 's' as a 'z' sound to connect the words smoothly.

How do I know enfants is plural when someone is speaking, if the 's' at the end is silent?

In French, you usually cannot hear the 's' at the end of plural nouns! Instead, you rely on the word for "the" right before it. Hearing les instead of the singular le or la is your main clue that there is more than one child.

Why do we use les for the children but le for the park?

Because French has different words for "the" depending on quantity. We use the plural les for the children because there are many of them. We use the singular le for the park because there is only one, and the word parc is masculine.

Which verb is sont?

Sont means "are". It is the plural "they" form of the verb être (to be). Since "the children" can be replaced by "they", we use sont.