Nous décidons de rester dans la maison maintenant.

the house

Breakdown of Nous décidons de rester dans la maison maintenant.

• nous: we
• dans: in
• maintenant: now
• rester: to stay
• décider: to decide

Questions & Answers about Nous décidons de rester dans la maison maintenant.

Why do we need to use de after décidons?

In French, certain verbs, like décider, require the preposition de when followed by another verb. It’s a set construction: décider de + infinitive. You can think of it as a fixed rule of the language, much like the way we have to say “decide to do something” in English.

Why is dans used instead of à before la maison?

In French, dans often translates to inside or in the interior of. Saying dans la maison emphasizes that you are physically inside the house. Using à la maison can sometimes mean “at home,” which carries a slightly different nuance—more like being at one’s home rather than explicitly inside a specific house.

Can maintenant be placed elsewhere in the sentence?

Yes, maintenant can be moved around. For instance, you could say Maintenant, nous décidons de rester dans la maison. However, placing it at the end of the sentence is quite natural and often used for emphasis on the temporal aspect—telling us when the decision is being made.

Why is the verb in the present tense form décidons instead of a future form?

In French, the present tense sometimes covers situations that are happening now as well as immediate future intentions or decisions. Saying Nous décidons de… implies the decision is happening right now and can indicate a near-future action without needing the future tense.