Learn French: Le train arrive à la frontière de l'Italie. - The train arrives at the border of Italy.

Le train arrive à la frontière de l'Italie.

The train arrives at the border of Italy.

Breakdown of Le train arrive à la frontière de l'Italie.

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

at / to / in (general locations) / about (what one thinks about / reacts to)

Questions & Answers about Le train arrive à la frontière de l'Italie.

Since this lesson is about d'où (from where), how would I use it to ask about this train?

Our sentence tells us where the train is arriving at (à la frontière), so to ask about its destination you would use où (where): Où arrive le train ? But if you wanted to ask where the train is traveling from, you would use the lesson's question word: D'où arrive le train ?

Why is it de l'Italie instead of just de Italie?

In French, country names almost always need a word for 'the' before them. Italy is a feminine country starting with a vowel, so it takes l', making it l'Italie. When you want to say 'of Italy' (or 'Italy's border'), you use de (of) plus l'Italie to get de l'Italie.

Why do we use à la before frontière?

The word for border, frontière, is feminine. To say 'at the' or 'to the' before a feminine noun, you use à la. If the train were arriving at a masculine place, like a port (port), you would use au instead.

How do I pronounce the verb arrive here? Do I say the 'e' at the end?

No, the final 'e' is silent. For regular verbs ending in '-er' like arriver, the he/she/it form ends in an 'e' that you do not pronounce. You just say 'ah-reev'.