Question 1

Why do we use où here instead of qui or que?

Accepted Answer

In French, the relative pronoun où means "where" (and sometimes "when"). You use it to link a place or a time to the rest of the sentence. Since la rue (the street) is a place, we use où to say "the street where...". You would use qui or que for "who", "which", or "that".

Question 2

Wait, doesn't chars mean "tanks" or "chariots"? Why is it translated as "floats"?

Accepted Answer

It can mean all of those things! While un char often means a military tank or an ancient chariot, context is key. When talking about a parade, festival, or carnival, un char (or un char de carnaval) refers to a decorated parade float.

Question 3

Why is the verb est singular when the verb right before it is plural (défilent)?

Accepted Answer

This is because the sentence contains a main clause interrupted by a relative clause. The core sentence is simply La rue est très animée (The street is very lively). The middle part, où les chars défilent (where the floats parade), is just extra information. The verb est matches the main singular subject, la rue.

Question 4

Why does animée have an extra -e at the end?

Accepted Answer

Animée (lively) is an adjective describing la rue (the street). Because rue is a feminine noun, the adjective needs to agree with it by adding the feminine -e ending.

Question 5

Do I pronounce the -ent at the end of défilent?

Accepted Answer

No. For all regular -er verbs, the -ent ending for the "they" form (third-person plural) is completely silent. You just pronounce it as if it were written "défil".

La rue où les chars défilent est très animée.

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