Je pars en vacances à la fin du mois.

I am going on vacation at the end of the month.

Breakdown of Je pars en vacances à la fin du mois.

• je: I
• à: at
• partir: to leave
• la fin du mois: the end of the month

Questions & Answers about Je pars en vacances à la fin du mois.

What does the sentence Je pars en vacances à la fin du mois mean in English?

It means "I'm going on vacation at the end of the month." In this sentence, Je stands for I, pars is the conjugated form of partir (to leave), en vacances is the idiomatic way to say "on vacation," and à la fin du mois specifies "at the end of the month."

What tense is used for pars, and why is it used here?

Pars is in the simple present tense, which is the first-person singular form of partir. Although in English we might expect the future ("I will go"), French often uses the present tense to indicate a near-future action or a scheduled plan, making the meaning clear in context.

Why is the phrase en vacances used, and can it be translated word for word?

The phrase en vacances is an idiomatic expression in French used to mean "on vacation." Even though a word-for-word translation would be "in vacations," it functions the same as the English idiom "on vacation." Learners must remember that en vacances is fixed and cannot be adjusted (for instance, it’s always used in the plural form) regardless of whether one is referring to a single or multiple periods of holiday.

Why is vacances used in the plural form even when referring to a single vacation period?

In French, vacances is always used in the plural form when talking about holiday time. There is no singular form in this context. This is simply a characteristic of the vocabulary—it’s one of those idiomatic rules that needs to be memorized.

What is the grammatical structure of à la fin du mois, and why must the article la be included?

The expression à la fin du mois breaks down as follows: • à means “at” • la fin means “the end” (using the definite article la because fin is a noun) • du is a contraction of de le, meaning “of the” • mois means “month”

The use of la is necessary because in French, nouns like fin require a definite article. Together, the phrase establishes a clear time reference, translating directly to “at the end of the month.”