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Le printemps arrive, et les fleurs commencent à fleurir.

Le printemps arrive, et les fleurs commencent à fleurir.
Spring is coming, and the flowers are starting to bloom.
FromLesson 17inHardcore French

Breakdown of Le printemps arrive, et les fleurs commencent à fleurir.

et
and
à
to
commencer
to start
la fleur
the flower
arriver
to arrive
le printemps
the spring
fleurir
to bloom

Questions & Answers about Le printemps arrive, et les fleurs commencent à fleurir.

Why is le used before printemps instead of leaving it without an article?
In French, seasons normally take the definite article when you speak about them in general. So you say le printemps, l’été, l’automne, l’hiver. You wouldn’t drop the article in a neutral descriptive sentence.
How do you pronounce printemps and why are some letters silent?
Printemps is pronounced [pʁɛ̃.tɑ̃]. The in is a nasal vowel ([ɛ̃]), the t links to the next syllable, and the final ps are both silent. You only hear two syllables.
Why do we say les fleurs instead of des fleurs or just fleurs?
When you talk about something in a general or habitual sense in French, you use the definite article. Here you refer to “flowers in general,” so it’s les fleurs. If you said des fleurs, you’d imply “some flowers” rather than the whole category.
Why is there an à in commencent à fleurir? Couldn’t we say commencent fleurir?
Many French verbs need a preposition before another verb in the infinitive. Commencer uses à: commencer à faire quelque chose. Without à, the structure is ungrammatical when the object is another verb.
What’s the difference between fleurir and éclore?
Fleurir means “to bloom” or “to flower” in a general sense (the flower opens fully). Éclore focuses on the bud opening or hatching (used for flowers, but more poetic, and also for eggs). You could say les boutons commencent à éclore (the buds begin to open).
Why is the present tense used for arrive and commencent when referring to something that happens in the future?
French often uses the present tense to describe scheduled or imminent actions (similar to “spring is coming”). It gives a sense of immediacy. You could use a future tense (Le printemps arrivera), but the present is more vivid here.
Why does commencent end with -ent?
Because its subject les fleurs is third-person plural. In French present tense, ils/elles commencent always take -ent (though you don’t pronounce the final -ent).
Is the comma before et necessary?
It isn’t strictly mandatory in a short sentence like this, but adding a comma gives a slight pause and separates the two coordinated clauses: Le printemps arrive, et les fleurs commencent à fleurir. In simple lists you often drop it, but for two full clauses it’s stylistically fine.
AI Language TutorTry it ↗
“How does grammatical gender work in French?”
Every French noun is either masculine or feminine, and this affects the articles and adjectives used with it. "Le" is used with masculine nouns and "la" with feminine ones. Adjectives also change form to match — for example, "petit" (masc.) becomes "petite" (fem.).

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