Breakdown of La semaine prochaine, je pars en vacances.
les vacances
the vacation / the holidays
en
in, to
partir
to leave / to depart
la semaine prochaine
next week
Questions & Answers about La semaine prochaine, je pars en vacances.
We are learning about using dans for future time. Why isn't there a dans before la semaine prochaine?
Dans means "in" a certain amount of time, so you would use it to say dans une semaine (in a week). But for "next week", French doesn't use a preposition at all. You just use the definite article la, making it la semaine prochaine (literally "the next week").
Why is the present tense je pars used if the holiday is in the future?
Just like in English when we say "I am leaving next week", French frequently uses the present tense for near, planned future events. Because you already established the time frame with la semaine prochaine, the present tense je pars clearly indicates a future action. You could also use the near future tense here (je vais partir), but the present is very common and natural.
Why does prochaine come after semaine?
Why is it en vacances and not "sur vacances" for "on holiday"?
Prepositions rarely translate word-for-word between languages. In French, the fixed phrase for going "on holiday" or "on vacation" is always en vacances. Also, notice that vacances is plural here, which is the standard way to talk about taking a holiday in French!
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