Je gagne de l'argent avec mon travail.

I earn money with my work.

Breakdown of Je gagne de l'argent avec mon travail.

• je: I
• mon: my
• avec: with
• le travail: the work
• de l': some
• l'argent: the money
• gagner: to earn

Questions & Answers about Je gagne de l'argent avec mon travail.

Why does the sentence use de l'argent instead of just argent?

In French, argent (money) is treated as a mass noun, meaning it isn’t counted as individual units in this context. The partitive article de l' is used to indicate an unspecified quantity, much like saying “some money” in English. Using just argent without the article would be grammatically incorrect when referring to an indefinite amount.

Why is the verb gagner conjugated as gagne in this sentence?

The verb gagner is conjugated as gagne because the subject is Je (I). In French, verbs change their ending to agree with the subject pronoun. Here, gagne is the first-person singular present tense form, meaning “I earn” or “I win,” and it properly matches the subject.

What does the preposition avec indicate in the phrase avec mon travail, and can another preposition be used?

The preposition avec means “with” and here it shows the means or method by which the money is earned. It tells us that the work is the tool or instrument through which the earning happens. While alternatives like grâce à can be used in contexts to express “thanks to” (often with a positive connotation), avec is a straightforward way to indicate the method without implying extra nuance.

Why is it mon travail instead of ma travail in the sentence?

Every noun in French has a gender, and the noun travail (work) is masculine. Therefore, the appropriate possessive adjective is mon rather than ma. Even if the concept of “work” might seem neutral in English, in French the grammatical gender determines the form of the adjectives used with it.

Can gagner mean both “to earn” and “to win,” and how do we know which meaning applies here?

Yes, gagner can mean both “to earn” and “to win” depending on the context. In this sentence, the object is de l'argent (money), which is typically associated with earning through work or effort. The context—talking about money earned through work—indicates that gagner means “to earn” rather than “to win” (as one might in a competition).

Is there an alternative way to express “with my work” in French, especially to imply “thanks to my work”?

Yes, an alternative expression is grâce à mon travail, which can be used to imply that the work is the reason or cause behind the ability to earn money. While avec mon travail simply denotes the method or instrument used, grâce à mon travail adds a sense of causality and positive outcome.