Learn French: Ils traînent à la maison histoire de passer un week-end tranquille. - They are hanging around at home just to have a quiet weekend.

Histoire de is a casual, informal expression that means just to or simply to. While pour (in order to) would be grammatically correct here, histoire de adds a relaxed tone, implying that having a quiet weekend is a low-key intention rather than a strict goal. It is always followed by an infinitive, like passer in this sentence.

What does the verb traînent mean in this context?

The verb traîner literally means to drag or to pull. However, in everyday informal French, it is commonly used to mean to hang around, to lounge, or to chill, which fits perfectly with the relaxed vibe of this sentence.

Why does the French sentence use passer when the English translation says to have a quiet weekend?

When talking about spending a duration of time or experiencing an event like a weekend, an evening, or a vacation, French uses passer (to spend) instead of avoir (to have). Therefore, to have a quiet weekend naturally translates to passer un week-end tranquille.

Why is the adjective tranquille placed after week-end?

Most descriptive adjectives in French are placed after the noun. While there is a small group of short, frequent adjectives that come before the noun (often memorized using the acronym BANGS: Beauty, Age, Number, Goodness, Size), tranquille does not fall into those categories, so it follows the standard rule and goes after the noun.