Question 1

Why does the verb change to vont?

Accepted Answer

Vont is the "they" form of the verb aller (to go). Aller is a very irregular verb, meaning it does not follow the normal pattern for verbs ending in -er. It matches exactly with the plural subject ils (they).

Question 2

Why do we use à la before campagne?

Accepted Answer

The French word campagne (countryside) is a feminine noun, so we use à la to mean "to the". If we were going to a masculine place like the park (le parc), we would have to combine à and le into au.

Question 3

Why doesn't the French sentence use a word for "on" before the weekend?

Accepted Answer

In French, you do not use prepositions like "on" with days of the week or the weekend. Simply using the article le before week-end shows that this is a recurring event. It translates perfectly to "on the weekend" or "on weekends".

Question 4

Could we say elles vont instead of ils vont?

Accepted Answer

Yes! If the group going to the countryside is entirely made up of women, you would say elles vont. The pronoun ils is used for a group of men, or a mixed group of men and women.

Ils vont à la campagne le week-end.

Breakdown of Ils vont à la campagne le week-end.

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