…
Questions & Answers about Elle va à la maison.
Why do we say à la maison instead of something like au maison?
In French, maison is a feminine noun, so it requires the feminine article la. Since à (meaning "to" or "at") is followed by the feminine article la, you get à la. If the noun were masculine, like bureau (desk/office), you would say au bureau, because à + le contracts to au.
Why do we use Elle here? Can we replace it with Il?
Elle means "she" and is specifically for a female subject in French. Il means "he" or can also be used for a masculine or sometimes impersonal subject. Since the subject is female (or feminine), we use Elle rather than Il.
What is the difference between a and à in writing?
Without the accent, a is a form of the verb avoir (meaning "has"). With the accent, à usually means "to" or "at." They sound different too: a (as in "ah") versus à (with a slightly more open "ah" sound in most French accents), though the difference can be subtle.
Why do we say va and not vas in this sentence?
Va is the third-person singular form of aller (to go), used with il/elle/on. Vas is the second-person singular form (used with tu). Since the sentence’s subject is Elle, we need the il/elle/on form, so we use va.
Can we say Elle rentre à la maison instead of Elle va à la maison?
Yes, but they are slightly different in meaning and nuance. Elle va à la maison simply means "She goes/is going home," focusing on the act of going. Elle rentre à la maison implies coming back to where she lives, often translated as "She is coming back home" or "She is returning home." They’re both correct but convey slightly different contexts.
More from this lesson
AI Language TutorTry it ↗
“How does grammatical gender work in French?”
Every French noun is either masculine or feminine, and this affects the articles and adjectives used with it. "Le" is used with masculine nouns and "la" with feminine ones. Adjectives also change form to match — for example, "petit" (masc.) becomes "petite" (fem.).
Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor
Start learning FrenchMaster French — from Elle va à la maison to fluency
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods.
- ✓ Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
- ✓ Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
- ✓ Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
- ✓ AI tutor to answer your grammar questions