Learn French: Elle a caché son agacement, mais au bout de deux heures, elle a commencé à râler. - She hid her annoyance, but at the end of two hours, she started to grumble.

Word

Elle a caché son agacement, mais au bout de deux heures, elle a commencé à râler.

Meaning

She hid her annoyance, but at the end of two hours, she started to grumble.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

French

Lesson

End of duration (au bout de)

Breakdown of Elle a caché son agacement, mais au bout de deux heures, elle a commencé à râler.

Questions & Answers about Elle a caché son agacement, mais au bout de deux heures, elle a commencé à râler.

Why do we use au bout de here instead of à la fin de to mean 'at the end of'?

Au bout de is used specifically for the end of a duration or a physical length (like 'at the end of two hours' or 'at the end of the street'). À la fin de is used for the end of an event, period, or text (like à la fin du film or à la fin de l'année). Since deux heures is a measure of time passing, au bout de is the correct choice.

Is râler a standard word for 'to complain'?

It is standard in spoken French, but it belongs to an informal register. It perfectly captures grumbling, moaning, or complaining about everyday annoyances. If you were writing a formal letter or essay, you would use a more neutral verb like se plaindre instead.

Why is there an à after commencé?

When the verb commencer is followed by another verb in the infinitive (to start doing something), it requires the preposition à as a link. While you might occasionally see commencer de in older literature, commencer à is the standard rule for modern spoken and written French.

Why is it son agacement if the subject elle is female?