Learn French: J'ouvre la porte à l'invité. - I open the door for the guest.

J'ouvre la porte à l'invité.

I open the door for the guest.

Breakdown of J'ouvre la porte à l'invité.

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

Questions & Answers about J'ouvre la porte à l'invité.

Why does ouvre end in -e instead of -is if ouvrir is an -ir verb?

Ouvrir (to open) is a special verb. Along with verbs like offrir (to offer), it ends in -ir but is conjugated exactly like a regular -er verb in the present tense. So for the je form, you drop the infinitive ending and add an -e, giving us ouvre.

The translation says "for the guest", but doesn't à usually mean "to"?

Yes, it does! In French, the standard phrase is ouvrir quelque chose à quelqu'un (literally, "to open something to someone"). In English, it is much more natural to say we open a door for someone, so we translate it that way so it makes sense.

Why is it j'ouvre instead of je ouvre?

Because ouvre starts with a vowel. In French, when short words like je, me, or le come right before a vowel sound, they drop their -e and combine with the next word using an apostrophe. This is called elision, and it makes the sentence flow more smoothly when spoken.

How would this sentence change if the guest were a woman?

You would simply add an -e to the end of the noun, making it l'invitée. It sounds exactly the same when spoken, but the spelling changes to match the feminine gender.