Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching French grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Chante avec moi dans le jardin.
Why is the verb chante used here instead of chantes or chantez?
In French, the imperative form is used when giving a command or making a request. For -er verbs like chanter, the tu form in the imperative drops the final -s, so tu chantes (indicative) becomes chante (imperative). If you wanted to address more than one person or use a polite form, you’d say chantez.
What does avec moi mean?
It literally means with me. Avec is the preposition with, and moi is the stressed pronoun for I or me in French. In this context, you’re inviting someone to sing with you.
Why do we say dans le jardin rather than au jardin?
Most commonly, dans le jardin translates to in the garden and emphasizes actually being inside the spatial boundaries of the garden. Au jardin can sometimes be used in other contexts or in certain more idiomatic expressions (for example, about taking care of a garden or going to a garden event), but if you want to say you’re physically in the garden, dans le jardin is more precise.
Why is the definite article le used in dans le jardin instead of un or mon?
French often uses a definite article (le/la/les) when talking about something specific or already known by the speakers. Saying dans un jardin would mean in a (nonspecific) garden, and dans mon jardin would specify my garden. Here, le indicates a particular garden both the speaker and listener know about, or it can simply generalize the idea of the garden in a broader sense.
Is there any difference in pronunciation between chante (imperative) and chante (present indicative)?
They are pronounced exactly the same way (shahnt). In written form, context tells you whether it’s the imperative (a command) or the present tense (a statement). In oral speech, you rely on tone of voice and context to discern whether it’s a command or a statement.
Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io
You've reached your AI usage limit
Sign up to increase your limit.