Learn French: Les gars du bureau sont sympas. - The guys from the office are nice.

Les gars du bureau sont sympas.

The guys from the office are nice.

Breakdown of Les gars du bureau sont sympas.

the office / the desk

le gars

the fellow (informal)

Questions & Answers about Les gars du bureau sont sympas.

How do you pronounce gars?

Gars is an informal word for "guys" or "lads". In modern French, both the r and the s are silent, so it sounds exactly like "gah".

Why can't I translate "office guys" directly as les bureau gars?

In English, you can stack nouns to describe things, like "office guys" or "water bottle". In French, you must link them with a preposition, usually de (of). So, "the office guys" has to be phrased as "the guys of the office" (les gars du bureau).

Why does sympas have an s at the end if it is an abbreviation?

Even though sympa is short for sympathique, it is used so much that it acts like a normal adjective. Because it describes a plural noun (les gars), it takes a plural s at the end. The pronunciation stays the same.

Could I use gentils instead of sympas to say they are nice?

You could, but sympas fits better. Sympa means "nice" in the sense of friendly and fun to be around. Gentil means "nice" in the sense of kind or sweet. Also, the casual word sympas matches the informal tone of gars perfectly.