Learn French: Nous voyageons au Canada et en France. - We are traveling to Canada and to France.

Nous voyageons au Canada et en France.

We are traveling to Canada and to France.

Breakdown of Nous voyageons au Canada et en France.

and

nous

we / us (object pronoun)

to the / at the (masculine singular)

voyager

to travel

Questions & Answers about Nous voyageons au Canada et en France.

Why do we use au for Canada but en for France?

In French, the word for "to" or "in" changes based on the country's gender. France is a feminine country, so we use en. Canada is a masculine country, so we use au (which is actually a combination of à and le).

How do I know if a country like France or Canada is masculine or feminine?

A helpful trick for beginners is to look at the last letter. Almost all countries that end in the letter "e" are feminine (like la France). Countries ending in any other letter are usually masculine (like le Canada). There are a few exceptions, like le Mexique, but this rule works most of the time!

Why is there an extra "e" in voyageons? The normal nous ending is just -ons.

It is there for pronunciation. For verbs ending in -ger like voyager, the letter "g" would make a hard sound (like in "goat") if placed directly next to the "o" in -ons. Adding the "e" keeps the soft "g" sound (like the "s" in "measure").

The English translation says "are traveling", but isn't voyageons just the present tense "travel"?

It is both! French does not have a separate tense for actions happening right now. Nous voyageons translates to both "we travel" in general and "we are traveling" at this exact moment. You just use the context to figure out which one makes sense.