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Nos cousines sont venues en car pour le trajet.

Nos cousines sont venues en car pour le trajet.
Our cousins came by coach for the journey.
From Lesson 126:Past participle agreement with the subject (elles sont allées)·French

Questions & Answers about Nos cousines sont venues en car pour le trajet.

Why does venues have an -es at the end?
In the passé composé, verbs that use the auxiliary être (like venir) must make their past participle agree with the subject. Here, the subject is Nos cousines, which is feminine and plural. So, we start with the base participle venu, add an -e for feminine, and an -s for plural, resulting in venues.
Does car mean the same thing as the English word car?
No, it is a false friend! In French, un car (short for un autocar) specifically means a coach or a regional bus. If you want to talk about a personal automobile, you must use the word une voiture.
Why do we say en car instead of using a literal translation like par car?
In French, you generally use the preposition en for modes of transportation that you can physically go inside of, such as en car (by coach), en train (by train), or en voiture (by car). You use à for things you ride on top of, like à vélo (by bike) or à cheval (on horseback).
Why is it Nos cousines and not Notre cousines?
Possessive adjectives must match the quantity of the noun they describe. Because cousines is plural, you must use the plural form Nos (our). Notre is only used for singular nouns, so you would only use it if you were talking about one cousin, as in notre cousine.

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