Breakdown of La fille sautait à la corde dans la cour.
la fille
the girl
dans
in, inside
à
at / to / in (general locations) / about (what one thinks about / reacts to)
la
her, it (feminine direct object pronoun)
sauter
to jump
la cour
the courtyard
la corde
the rope
Questions & Answers about La fille sautait à la corde dans la cour.
How do we get the form sautait from the verb sauter?
Sautait is the imperfect tense (l'imparfait) of the regular verb sauter (to jump). To build it, you start with the present tense nous form: nous sautons. Drop the -ons to get your stem (saut-), and then add the il/elle imperfect ending, which is -ait.
Why does this translate to "used to jump" instead of just "jumped"?
The imperfect tense describes continuous, ongoing, or repeated actions in the past. Translating it as "used to jump" makes it clear that this was a habit or a repeated activity. Depending on the context, sautait could also be translated as "was jumping".
Why is it sautait à la corde? Why not just say sautait la corde?
In English, "jump rope" acts like a single verb phrase, but in French, the specific activity of skipping or jumping rope is always sauter à la corde (literally "to jump at the rope"). French often uses the preposition à (to/at) when talking about games or physical activities.
Does la cour mean a sports court, like for basketball or tennis?
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