Questions & Answers about Cet élève va à l'université.
Why is it à l' here instead of a contracted word like au?
In French, the preposition à combined with the masculine article le becomes au. But because université begins with a vowel, we must use the article l' instead of le or la. The word à never contracts with l', so they remain separate as à l'université. Why do we use Cet for 'this' instead of Ce?
The word Ce means 'this' for masculine nouns. But because élève starts with a vowel, French adds a 't' to make it easier to pronounce, creating Cet. If we were talking about a female pupil, we would use the feminine word cette. Is université feminine or masculine?
It is feminine. However, knowing the gender doesn't change anything in this specific sentence. Because it starts with a vowel, the article becomes l' whether the word is masculine or feminine, preventing any contraction with à. Which verb is va from?
It is the 'he/she/it' form of the irregular verb aller, which means 'to go'. So Cet élève va translates to 'This pupil goes'. Learn Cet élève va à l'université and more in French
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