Je vais au marché avant le déjeuner.

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Breakdown of Je vais au marché avant le déjeuner.

• avant: before
• aller: to go
• à: to
• marché: the market
• déjeuner: the lunch

Questions & Answers about Je vais au marché avant le déjeuner.

Why do we say au marché instead of à le marché?

In French, the preposition à (to) combines with the article le (the) to create the contraction au. So whenever you want to say “to the” with a masculine singular noun, you use au rather than à le.

Why do we use le déjeuner to mean “lunch” when it literally translates to “the breakfast”?

Historically, déjeuner once meant “to break the fast,” but in modern French usage, le déjeuner refers to the midday meal for most French speakers. The original sense survived in certain regions, but standard French now uses petit déjeuner for “breakfast,” déjeuner for “lunch,” and dîner for “dinner.”

Is it acceptable to say Je vais aller au marché instead of Je vais au marché?

Je vais aller au marché literally means “I am going to go to the market,” emphasizing the intention to make a future trip. Je vais au marché means “I am going to the market” in the near future or right now. Both forms are grammatically correct, but Je vais au marché is more common and straightforward when you mean you’re about to leave.

What does avant mean, and why is it used here?

Avant means “before” in terms of time. In the sentence, avant le déjeuner specifies that you are going to the market before lunch occurs. It helps to place the action in a time sequence, letting you indicate that the market trip happens prior to having lunch.

Could we use devant instead of avant?

No. Devant typically means “in front of” to describe spatial positioning, not time. Since the sentence deals with time (before lunch), avant is correct. You’d use devant if you were describing a location, like standing devant le marché (“in front of the market”).