Question 1

Why does the sentence use le ventre (the belly) instead of son ventre (its belly)?

Accepted Answer

In French, you usually use definite articles (le, la, les) for body parts instead of possessive adjectives (like mon, ton, or son) when it is already clear who the body part belongs to. Since the dog is the subject doing the sleeping, it is obvious that it is on its own belly.

Question 2

Would it be wrong to say sur son ventre?

Accepted Answer

People would understand you, but it sounds unnatural. In French, using a possessive word with a body part in a sentence like this adds a strange emphasis, almost as if you needed to clarify that the dog is not sleeping on someone else's belly.

Question 3

The English translation could also be 'on its stomach'. Why use ventre instead of estomac?

Accepted Answer

Le ventre refers to the general belly or abdominal area on the outside of the body, which is what we mean when talking about a sleeping position. L'estomac refers strictly to the internal organ that digests your food.

Question 4

The infinitive of the verb is dormir. Why is there no 'm' in dort?

Accepted Answer

Dormir is an irregular verb. In the singular present tense (je dors, tu dors, il/elle dort), it drops the 'm' from its stem. The 'm' only comes back in the plural forms, like nous dormons or ils dorment.

Le chien dort sur le ventre.

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