Mon grand-père conduit la voiture dans la ville.

My grandfather drives the car in the city.

Breakdown of Mon grand-père conduit la voiture dans la ville.

• mon: my
• la ville: the city
• dans: in
• la voiture: the car
• le grand-père: the grandfather
• conduire: to drive

Questions & Answers about Mon grand-père conduit la voiture dans la ville.

Why do we say la voiture rather than une voiture?

In French, using la (the definite article) can indicate a specific car that’s already known or previously mentioned. If you used une (the indefinite article), it would suggest any car, not a specific one.

Why does mon grand-père have a hyphen?

In French, grand-père is typically written with a hyphen because it’s a compound noun. The same goes for grand-mère (grandmother), beau-père (father-in-law), etc. It helps show that it’s a single concept made from two words.

What does conduit mean and how do I pronounce it?

Conduit is the third-person singular form of the verb conduire, which means to drive. It’s pronounced something like kohn-dwee in French. Don’t pronounce the final "t."

Why do we use dans la ville instead of en ville?

Dans la ville literally means "inside the city," emphasizing being within its limits. En ville can be a bit more general, meaning "in town" or "to town." Both can be correct, but dans la ville focuses more precisely on being inside the city area.

Can I say Mon grand-père est en train de conduire la voiture?

Yes! Être en train de + infinitive is used to emphasize an ongoing action, similar to “is in the process of doing something.” So Mon grand-père est en train de conduire la voiture means "My grandfather is driving the car (right now)."

Do I need to use the article la again if I mention the car later?

Generally, yes. In French, you keep the definite article each time you refer to the specific noun, especially if you want to remind the listener it’s that same car. However, if you switch to a pronoun (like la for it), you wouldn’t repeat voiture.