Ils prennent le bus pour aller au travail.

they

Breakdown of Ils prennent le bus pour aller au travail.

• prendre: to take
• le bus: the bus
• aller: to go
• à: to
• le travail: the work

Questions & Answers about Ils prennent le bus pour aller au travail.

Why do we say prennent instead of prendre?

Because ils is a third-person plural subject, the verb prendre must be conjugated in the present tense as ils prennent.

Why is there a definite article le before bus?

In French, people commonly use the definite article le with modes of transportation (like le bus, le train, le métro). It is a standard way to refer to “the” bus in a general sense rather than a specific bus.

What does pour mean in this sentence?

Here, pour is used to indicate the purpose or goal. It can be translated as in order to in English, introducing why they take the bus (to go to work).

Why is the infinitive aller used after pour?

After pour, French typically uses the infinitive form of a verb to express intention or purpose: pour + infinitive = in order to + verb. That’s why it’s pour aller (to go).

Why do we say au travail instead of à le travail?

In French, à + le contracts into au. So instead of saying à le travail, it becomes au travail (meaning to work).

Could we say Ils partent pour aller au travail?

While partent (from partir) means they leave, it doesn’t specify the mode of transport. Ils prennent le bus clearly indicates that they take the bus. You can say Ils partent pour aller au travail, but you lose the detail of how they travel.