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Il lit souvent sur le balcon.

Il lit souvent sur le balcon.
He often reads on the balcony.
From Lesson 93:The preposition at someone's place (chez)·French

Breakdown of Il lit souvent sur le balcon.

il
he
sur
on
souvent
often
lire
to read
le balcon
the balcony

Questions & Answers about Il lit souvent sur le balcon.

Why does souvent come after lit?
In English, we say "He often reads", putting the adverb before the verb. In French, short adverbs like souvent (often) almost always go directly after the conjugated verb. So, it translates more like "He reads often".
Since the lesson is about chez, why don't we use chez for "at the balcony"?
The preposition chez is only used with people, like a person's name, a pronoun (chez moi), or a profession (chez le dentiste). A balcony is a physical object or space, not a person, so we use a regular location preposition like sur (on).
Why do we use sur instead of dans for the balcony?
French uses sur (on) for open, flat surfaces. Because a balcony is an open-air platform, you are physically "on" it (sur le balcon). You use dans (in) for enclosed rooms, like dans la chambre (in the bedroom).
What is the infinitive of the verb lit?
It comes from the irregular verb lire (to read). In the present tense, the singular forms sound identical but have different silent letters at the end: je lis, tu lis, il lit.

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