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Breakdown of Ils descendent l'escalier pour aller au jardin.
le jardin
the garden
ils
they
aller
to go
l'escalier
the stairs
descendre
to go down
Questions & Answers about Ils descendent l'escalier pour aller au jardin.
Why do we use descendent (third-person plural) instead of the infinitive descendre?
In French, we need a conjugated form of the verb to match the subject ils (they). Descendre is the infinitive (to go down), and descendent is the present-tense form for ils/elles. So we say Ils descendent to mean They go down.
Why is it l'escalier and not le escalier?
French uses an elision (dropping the vowel of le or la) before a word starting with a vowel or silent "h" to make pronunciation smoother. Since escalier starts with a vowel, le becomes l'. That’s why we write l'escalier.
Is escalier masculine or feminine in French?
Escalier is a masculine noun in French. Hence, you would see it with masculine articles and adjectives (for example, un escalier, l’escalier, un bel escalier).
Why do we say descendent l'escalier instead of descendent de l'escalier?
In French, descendre quelque chose means going down something (like a staircase). If you use descendre de, it implies leaving or coming off of something. Here, because they are physically moving down the stairs, the direct object is l'escalier, so we say descendent l'escalier.
Why is pour aller used here instead of something else?
Pour plus the infinitive (aller) in French often indicates intention or purpose: to go, in order to go. So pour aller au jardin indicates the reason they are going downstairs: in order to go to the garden.
What is the difference between au jardin and dans le jardin?
Au jardin means to the garden (or in the garden in some contexts), focusing on the general idea of going to that location. Dans le jardin means in the garden, emphasizing being inside or within the garden. In this sentence, au jardin is most natural because it describes heading to that place.
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“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.).
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