Learn French: L'arrêt de bus est devant le métro. - The bus stop is in front of the subway.

L'arrêt de bus est devant le métro.

The bus stop is in front of the subway.

Breakdown of L'arrêt de bus est devant le métro.

être

to be

of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)

Questions & Answers about L'arrêt de bus est devant le métro.

Why is it arrêt de bus instead of arrêt du bus?

In French, when a noun describes the type or purpose of another noun, they are connected with just de (of), without words for "the" like le or la. L'arrêt de bus means a general bus stop, rather than the stop of one specific bus.

What is the difference between devant and avant?

Devant is used for physical places and means "in front of", as seen in this sentence where the bus stop is physically in front of the subway station. Avant translates to "before" and is used for time.

Why is there an apostrophe in L'arrêt?

The word for stop is arrêt, which is a masculine word. Usually, "the" would be le, but because arrêt starts with a vowel, the e is dropped to make pronunciation smoother. This is a required grammar rule called elision.

Does le métro mean the subway train or the subway station here?

In everyday spoken French, le métro is often used as a shortcut to mean the physical subway station (the entrance or the building), just as much as the subway system or the train itself.