Learn French: Nous venons en taxi parce que le train a beaucoup de retard. - We are coming by taxi because the train has a lot of delay.

Nous venons en taxi parce que le train a beaucoup de retard.

We are coming by taxi because the train has a lot of delay.

Breakdown of Nous venons en taxi parce que le train a beaucoup de retard.

nous

we / us (object pronoun)

Questions & Answers about Nous venons en taxi parce que le train a beaucoup de retard.

How does the verb venir work with nous here?

venons is the nous (we) form of the irregular verb venir (to come). Even though the verb is irregular, it still uses the standard -ons ending that you see with almost all French verbs for the nous form.

Why do we use en for 'by' taxi?

In French, you generally use the word en for types of transportation that you can go inside of, such as en taxi, en train (by train), or en bus (by bus).

Why does the sentence use a (has) for being late, instead of a word for 'is'?

In French, you often use the verb avoir (to have) instead of 'to be' to describe certain states. To say something is late, you use avoir plus the noun retard (delay). Here, le train a beaucoup de retard literally translates to 'the train has a lot of delay'.

Why is it beaucoup de retard instead of beaucoup du retard?