Learn French: Les enfants ont des lits dans la chambre. - The children have beds in the bedroom.

Les enfants ont des lits dans la chambre.

The children have beds in the bedroom.

Breakdown of Les enfants ont des lits dans la chambre.

l'enfant

the child

des

some (plural indefinite)

Questions & Answers about Les enfants ont des lits dans la chambre.

Why do we use ont here instead of another form of avoir?

ont is the they (ils/elles) form of the verb avoir (to have). Because the subject of the sentence is Les enfants (The children), we use this plural form.

The English translation just says beds. Why is it des lits in French?

In English, we can often drop words before plural nouns, but French almost always requires a small grammar word called an article. des is the plural of un or une (a/an). It acts like the word some, so the French sentence essentially means the children have some beds.

Are the plural s letters at the end of enfants and lits pronounced?

The s in lits is completely silent. However, because enfants is followed by the vowel o in ont, the s in enfants makes a z sound to link the two words together. This connecting sound is called a liaison.

Does chambre always mean bedroom?

Usually, yes. While pièce is the general French word for any room in a building, chambre specifically means a bedroom where you sleep.