Learn French: L'étudiant rentre des États-Unis. - The student is returning from the United States.

L'étudiant rentre des États-Unis.

The student is returning from the United States.

Breakdown of L'étudiant rentre des États-Unis.

of the / from the (masculine singular, with plural des)

rentrer

to go home / to return

Questions & Answers about L'étudiant rentre des États-Unis.

Why does this sentence use des instead of de les?

In French, when the preposition de (which can mean from or of) is followed by the plural definite article les (meaning the), they must combine into the single word des. You will never see de les written together in French!

Why do we use the plural form des for a single country?

Just like in English, the United States is a plural name in French: les États-Unis. So, to say from the United States, you combine de and les to get des États-Unis.

Is the letter s at the end of des pronounced in this sentence?

Yes, but it makes a Z sound. Because des ends in an s and États starts with a vowel, you connect them when speaking. This connection is called a liaison. It makes des États sound like dez-ay-tah.

Does rentre just mean to return?

It specifically means to return home or to go back to where you live. By using the verb rentrer, the sentence implies that the student is coming back to their home country from the US, rather than just returning to a temporary spot.