Learn French: Le fromager le sait, le lait fermente grâce aux bactéries. - The cheesemaker knows it, the milk ferments thanks to the bacteria.

Le fromager le sait, le lait fermente grâce aux bactéries.

The cheesemaker knows it, the milk ferments thanks to the bacteria.

Breakdown of Le fromager le sait, le lait fermente grâce aux bactéries.

le lait

the milk

aux

to the, at the (plural) / with (flavoured with, in dish names) / with (having as a feature)

him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)

savoir

to know (a fact), to know how to

Questions & Answers about Le fromager le sait, le lait fermente grâce aux bactéries.

Why is there a le in le sait?

Here, le acts as a neutral pronoun standing in for the fact that milk ferments. While English often just says 'The cheesemaker knows' or uses 'knows that', French frequently uses le with verbs like savoir to reference a complete idea or situation that is already known or about to be stated.

Why use grâce aux instead of à cause des for the bacteria?

The phrase grâce à means 'thanks to' and is used exclusively for positive or helpful causes. Since the cheesemaker wants the milk to ferment to make cheese, the bacteria are doing something desirable! If the bacteria were spoiling the milk, you would use à cause de (because of), which implies a negative outcome.

Why is it aux bactéries instead of just à bactéries?

The prepositional phrase grâce à must be followed by a noun with its definite article. Since bactéries is plural, it requires the plural definite article les. In French, the preposition à and the article les must always contract into aux.

Could we use que (that) instead of a comma to connect these ideas?

Yes! You could absolutely write Le fromager sait que le lait fermente... (The cheesemaker knows that the milk ferments). Using a comma and the pronoun le instead separates the sentence into two independent clauses. This stylistic choice makes the sentence feel a bit more conversational and emphasizes the cheesemaker's knowledge as a standalone fact.