Learn Hardcore French: Au printemps, j’ouvre les volets pour laisser entrer la brise fraîche. - In spring, I open the shutters to let in the fresh breeze.

In French, seasons normally take the definite article with à + le for “in”: au printemps, en été, à l’automne. You don’t use dans le printemps unless you literally mean “inside the spring” (like physically within it).

Why is there an apostrophe in j’ouvre?

Because je ends with a vowel and ouvre begins with a vowel. French forbids two vowels in a row, so je ouvre becomes j’ouvre (elision) for euphony.

Why use les volets instead of mes volets or des volets?

– Les volets uses the definite article. French often uses le/la/les where English uses a possessive when it’s clear whose they are (e.g. “I open my shutters” → j’ouvre les volets).
– Des volets would mean “some shutters” in general, without specifying that they are the ones on your house.

What exactly are volets? How are they different from fenêtres?

– La fenêtre is the window itself (the glass opening).
– Le volet is a shutter or blind you install over the window to block light or wind.

What is the function of pour in pour laisser entrer la brise fraîche?

Here pour introduces the purpose: “in order to let…” It’s equivalent to English to or in order to. You could replace it with afin de for formality: afin de laisser entrer…, but not with parce que (that would mean “because”).

Why is fraîche feminine?

Because adjectives in French agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. Brise is a feminine noun, so fraîche takes the -e ending.

What’s the difference between brise and bise?

– Brise (with r) means “breeze,” a gentle wind.
– Bise (without r) can mean “kiss” (spoken, like faire la bise) or a cold north wind in some regions.

Could I say en laissant entrer la brise fraîche instead of pour laisser entrer…? What’s the nuance?

– Pour laisser entrer… expresses purpose: “so that I let the breeze in.”
– En laissant entrer… expresses how or while doing something simultaneously: “by letting the breeze in.” It shifts the focus from intention to the manner or circumstance of opening.