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L'après-midi, je fais une sieste.

L'après-midi, je fais une sieste.
In the afternoon, I take a nap.
From Lesson 40:Telling time (il est... heure)·French

Breakdown of L'après-midi, je fais une sieste.

faire
to do, to make
la sieste
the nap
l'après-midi
the afternoon

Questions & Answers about L'après-midi, je fais une sieste.

Why does L'après-midi mean "In the afternoon"? Shouldn't there be a word for "in"?
In French, you don't need a preposition like "in" to talk about general parts of the day. You just use the definite article (le, la, or l'). So, l'après-midi translates naturally to "in the afternoon."
Does après-midi literally mean "after-noon"?
Yes! It is a combination of après (after) and midi (noon). Because it starts with a vowel, the word for "the" (le or la) shrinks to l', making it l'après-midi.
Since this lesson is about telling time, how would I use après-midi to specify "PM"?
To say "PM" in French during this part of the day, you add de l'après-midi (of the afternoon) after the time. For example, "It is 3:00 PM" is Il est trois heures de l'après-midi.
Why is it je fais une sieste instead of using the verb for "take"?
In English, we "take" a nap, but in French, you "do" or "make" a nap. The verb faire (to do/make) is used in many common expressions where English uses a different verb. So, je fais une sieste is the standard way to say "I take a nap."

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