Breakdown of Ce matin-là, un grand camion apporte de la farine au boulanger avant la fin de la matinée.
grand
big
avant
before
à
to
de
of
ce
this
de la
some
la fin
the end
une
a
le boulanger
the baker
le camion
the truck
la farine
the flour
la matinée
the morning
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Questions & Answers about Ce matin-là, un grand camion apporte de la farine au boulanger avant la fin de la matinée.
Why is it Ce matin-là instead of just Ce matin?
The -là attached with hyphens turns ce matin into “that particular morning.” It points back to a context or story you’re already telling. Without -là, Ce matin would simply mean “this morning” or “this very morning,” not “that morning in the past.”
Why is the verb apporte in the present tense, even though it describes something that happened in the past?
French often uses the présent de narration (also called the présent historique) to make past events feel more immediate and vivid. Even though the action took place that morning, telling it in the present tense draws the listener into the scene as if it’s unfolding right now.
Why do we say de la farine instead of la farine or une farine?
De la is the partitive article, used when you refer to an unspecified quantity of something mass-nouny (like flour).
- la farine would refer to a specific batch of flour you both already know about.
- une farine isn’t used because flour is not countable in that sense.
What’s the difference between matin and matinée, and why are both in the same sentence?
- Le matin points to the start of the day or a moment.
- La matinée describes the entire span or duration of the morning.
Here, Ce matin-là picks out “that morning” as a point in time; avant la fin de la matinée means “before the morning period ends.”
Why is the adjective grand placed before camion, and why not use gros?
1) Some common adjectives—like grand, petit, joli, jeune—normally go before the noun.
2) Grand emphasizes height or length, while gros would stress thickness or bulk. In French you’d choose grand camion to mean a “tall/long truck.”
What is the role of the hyphen in matin-là?
When you attach là to a demonstrative plus a noun (ce, cette, ces), you connect them with hyphens: ce matin-là, cette fois-là, ces jours-là. It signals “that _.”
Why use apporter instead of amener, emmener, or amener?
- apporter = to bring an object
- amener = to bring a person or animal
- emmener = to take (a person/animal) away from here
Since flour is a thing, not a person, you choose apporter.
Why is it au boulanger and not pour le boulanger?
Apporter quelque chose à quelqu’un uses à to mark the recipient. Au is the contraction of à + le.
Using pour le boulanger would stress purpose (“for the baker’s benefit”) rather than the simple act of delivering.
Could you say avant midi instead of avant la fin de la matinée?
Yes, avant midi means “before noon” and is perfectly natural. Avant la fin de la matinée sounds a bit more formal or literary, but the overall meaning is the same.
Why do we start with un grand camion instead of le grand camion?
Un introduces the truck as something not yet mentioned—a new element in the narrative. Le would imply the listener already knows which specific truck you mean.