Learn French: Traverse la rue près de la boulangerie.

Traverse la rue près de la boulangerie.

Cross the street near the bakery.

Breakdown of Traverse la rue près de la boulangerie.

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

près

near

Questions & Answers about Traverse la rue près de la boulangerie.

Why doesn't Traverse have an s at the end?

Traverser (to cross) is a regular -er verb. When giving a command to one person informally (the tu form), you drop the final s from the verb. So, while you would say Tu traverses for 'You are crossing', the command 'Cross!' is simply Traverse.

Who is being told to cross the street here?

The speaker is talking to someone they would address with the informal 'you' (tu). We know this because of the verb form traverse. If they were speaking to a stranger, an elder, or multiple people, they would use the formal or plural vous form instead: Traversez la rue.

Why is it près de la boulangerie? Doesn't de combine with the next word?

The expression for 'near' is près de. The word de only combines with le (to make du) and les (to make des). Because boulangerie (bakery) is feminine, it uses la. The words de and la never contract, so they stay separate as près de la.