Ils parlent avec leur famille dans le jardin.

They talk with their family in the garden.

Breakdown of Ils parlent avec leur famille dans le jardin.

• avec: with
• la famille: the family
• dans: in
• le jardin: the garden
• ils: they
• leur: their
• parler: to talk

Questions & Answers about Ils parlent avec leur famille dans le jardin.

Why do we say leur famille and not leurs famille?

In French, leur is the possessive adjective used when referring to a single thing owned by multiple people (in this case, one family shared by everyone). If we were talking about multiple families, we would use leurs (e.g., leurs familles).

Why is the word le used before jardin?

French nouns almost always need an article, such as le (masculine) or la (feminine). Here, le jardin means the garden, specifically referencing that location. We say dans le jardin to indicate being physically in that garden.

Could we say Ils parlent à leur famille dans le jardin instead of avec?

Yes, you could use à if you mean they are speaking to their family. Avec suggests they are speaking with their family in a more interactive way. Both are correct; they just have slightly different nuances.

What is the difference between Ils and Elles when starting a sentence?

Ils is the masculine (or mixed gender) plural pronoun for they, while Elles is exclusively the feminine plural pronoun for they. In sentences involving men and women or an all-male group, ils is used by default.

Why is the verb parlent used and not parlons or parle?

Parlent is the conjugation of parler (to speak) for ils/elles (they). Parlons is the nous (we) form, and parle is used for je, il/elle, or on. The subject here is ils, so we need parlent.