Paul joue avec le papa.

Because the subject is Paul, which is he / il.

The verb is jouer = to play. In the present tense:

• je joue = I play
• tu joues = you play
• il / elle joue = he / she plays
• nous jouons = we play
• vous jouez = you play
• ils / elles jouent = they play

So Paul joue means Paul plays or Paul is playing.

In French, the simple present tense often covers both:

• Paul plays
• Paul is playing

So Paul joue can mean either one, depending on context.

French does have ways to emphasize an action in progress, such as être en train de, but it is not required here:

• Paul est en train de jouer = Paul is in the middle of playing / Paul is playing right now

In a basic sentence, Paul joue is completely normal.

Avec means with.

So:

• Paul joue avec le papa = Paul is playing with the dad

It shows who Paul is playing together with.

This is a very common French question.

With jouer, the preposition changes depending on the meaning:

• jouer avec + person/thing = to play with someone/something
  
  • Paul joue avec le papa.
• jouer à + game/sport = to play a game or sport
  
  • Paul joue au football.
• jouer de + musical instrument = to play an instrument
  
  • Paul joue du piano.

So here, because Paul is playing with a person, French uses avec.

Yes, son papa would also be possible, and in many situations it may sound more natural.

• le papa = the dad
• son papa = his dad

The difference is about what the speaker wants to emphasize.

Le papa refers to the father/dad as a specific person already understood in context.

Son papa clearly tells you that it is his father.

For example:

• Paul joue avec le papa. = Paul is playing with the dad.
• Paul joue avec son papa. = Paul is playing with his dad.

In real everyday French, if you mean Paul’s own dad, son papa is often clearer.

Papa is the everyday, affectionate word: dad / daddy.
Père is more formal: father.

So:

• le papa = the dad
• le père = the father

In a simple, family-style sentence like this one, papa sounds more natural than père.

Yes, in this sentence the word order is very similar to English:

• Paul = subject
• joue = verb
• avec le papa = prepositional phrase

So it works like:

• Paul plays with the dad.

This makes the sentence relatively easy for English speakers.

A simple approximation for an English speaker is:

Pol zhoo ah-vek luh pa-pa

A few notes:

• Paul sounds roughly like Pol
• joue sounds like zhoo
• avec is roughly ah-vek
• le is roughly luh
• papa is pa-pa

Also, French pronunciation is smoother than English, so the words flow together more.

No, not always.

In this sentence:

• Paul: the final l is pronounced
• joue: the final e is not pronounced
• avec: the final c is pronounced
• le: the final e gives a soft uh sound
• papa: both final a sounds are pronounced

French spelling often includes letters that are silent, so pronunciation must be learned along with the word.

Yes, depending on context.

• avec papa = with Dad
• avec le papa = with the dad
• avec son papa = with his dad

Avec papa sounds more personal and direct, like the way a child or family member might speak.

So all of these can exist, but they do not sound exactly the same:

• Paul joue avec papa. = Paul is playing with Dad.
• Paul joue avec son papa. = Paul is playing with his dad.
• Paul joue avec le papa. = Paul is playing with the dad.

Usually yes, but the exact English translation depends on context.

For example:

• jouer = to play
• jouer avec quelqu’un = to play with someone
• jouer à un jeu / à un sport = to play a game / sport
• jouer d’un instrument = to play an instrument

So in this sentence, joue clearly means plays / is playing.