Learn French: Le bébé fait une petite sieste. - The baby is taking a short nap.

Le bébé fait une petite sieste.

The baby is taking a short nap.

Breakdown of Le bébé fait une petite sieste.

Questions & Answers about Le bébé fait une petite sieste.

Why does the sentence use fait when the English translation says 'is taking'?

The verb faire literally means 'to do' or 'to make', but French uses it in lots of everyday expressions where English uses other verbs. For example, in French you 'do a nap' (faire une sieste). You will see faire used for weather, sports, and chores too!

The translation says 'is taking', so why aren't there two verbs like in English?

In French, the present tense covers both 'takes' and 'is taking'. There is no separate 'is doing' tense like there is in English. So, Le bébé fait can mean 'The baby takes' or 'The baby is taking', depending on the context.

Why is the adjective petite placed before sieste instead of after it?

Most French adjectives go after the noun, but short, common adjectives that describe Beauty, Age, Goodness, or Size (often taught as the 'BAGS' rule) go before the noun. Since petite (small/short) describes size, it goes in front of sieste.

Why does petite have an 'e' at the end?

Adjectives in French have to match the gender of the noun they describe. Because sieste (nap) is a feminine noun (which we know because of the feminine word for 'a', une), we add an e to the masculine word petit to make it feminine: petite.