Learn French: Nous prenons le train au lieu de conduire. - We take the train instead of driving.

Nous prenons le train au lieu de conduire.

We take the train instead of driving.

Breakdown of Nous prenons le train au lieu de conduire.

nous

we / us (object pronoun)

prendre

to have (a meal/drink) / to take

Questions & Answers about Nous prenons le train au lieu de conduire.

Why is it au lieu de conduire and not au lieu de conduisant?

In English, we say 'instead of driving' using an -ing verb. In French, prepositions like de (as in au lieu de) must be followed by the infinitive (the dictionary form of the verb). So, 'instead of driving' becomes au lieu de conduire (literally 'instead of to drive').

What does au lieu de literally mean?

It translates literally to 'at the place of'. The word lieu means 'place' or 'location'. Over time, this fixed expression became the standard French way to express substitution.

Would de ever change to du or des in this expression?

It depends on what comes next. Here, it is followed by a verb (conduire), so de remains unchanged. If it were followed by a noun, it would combine with definite articles as usual. For example, 'instead of the cars' would be au lieu des voitures (de + les).

Why do we use prenons here? Could we say nous allons par le train?