Log inSign up

Nous voyageons en avion pour les vacances.

Nous voyageons en avion pour les vacances.
We travel by plane for the holidays.
From Lesson 22:Informal questions (qui, que, quoi)·French

Breakdown of Nous voyageons en avion pour les vacances.

pour
for
voyager
to travel
les vacances
the vacation / the holidays
en avion
by plane

Questions & Answers about Nous voyageons en avion pour les vacances.

Why is there an "e" in voyageons? Shouldn't the ending for nous just be -ons?
Yes, the regular present tense ending for nous is -ons. However, for verbs ending in -ger (like voyager), we must keep the e before an o or an a. This is a spelling rule that ensures the g keeps its soft sound (like the 's' in 'measure'). Without the e, voyagons would have a hard 'g' sound like in the English word 'go'.
Why do we use en for "by plane" (en avion) instead of a direct translation for "by"?
In French, you generally use the preposition en for modes of transportation that you can physically go inside of. This includes en avion (by plane), en voiture (by car), and en train (by train).
Why is les vacances plural? Can I just say la vacance for my vacation?
In French, the word for "vacation" or "holidays" is almost always plural: les vacances. The singular word une vacance exists, but it means a "vacancy" (like an available job or an empty hotel room), not a holiday!
Based on this lesson, how would I turn this sentence into a question to ask "What are we travelling for?"
Using the "in situ" method from this lesson (where the question word stays in the normal sentence order), you simply replace the thing you are asking about (les vacances) with the question word quoi (what). The question becomes: Nous voyageons en avion pour quoi ?
How would I use the rules from this lesson to ask "Who is travelling by plane?"
You would replace the subject Nous with the question word Qui (who) at the start of the sentence. Remember that qui always acts like a third-person singular subject (like il or elle), so you must change the verb ending to match: Qui voyage en avion pour les vacances ?

Learn Nous voyageons en avion pour les vacances and more in French

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning French →