Ma sœur aime préparer la décoration pour l'anniversaire.

My sister likes to prepare the decoration for the birthday.

Breakdown of Ma sœur aime préparer la décoration pour l'anniversaire.

• aimer: to like
• ma: my
• pour: for
• préparer: to prepare
• la sœur: the sister
• l'anniversaire: the birthday
• la décoration: the decoration

Questions & Answers about Ma sœur aime préparer la décoration pour l'anniversaire.

Why is aime followed by préparer in the infinitive form?

In French, the verb aimer is typically followed directly by an infinitive (without any preposition). So when you say aime préparer, it literally means "loves to prepare," making préparer the direct action coming after aimer.

Why do we use la décoration instead of les décorations?

Using la décoration refers to decoration in a general or collective sense, focusing on the overall concept or process of decorating. If you wanted to talk about multiple specific items of decoration, you could use the plural les décorations.

Why do we say pour l’anniversaire and not pour un anniversaire?

Here, l’anniversaire is a definite event everyone in the context already knows about (e.g., someone’s birthday). So you use the definite article l’ (from le+anniversaire) instead of the indefinite article un, which would suggest an unspecified birthday.

How do we pronounce aime differently from aimes?

The words aime (third person singular) and aimes (second person singular) are pronounced the same way in French: both sound like “em.” You can only tell them apart in writing or by context.

What is the role of pour in this sentence?

Pour in this context means “for,” indicating the purpose of the decoration. It tells us that the decoration is being prepared with the specific goal or event of the birthday in mind.