Breakdown of Le bois brûle dans la cheminée.
dans
in
le bois
the wood
la cheminée
the fireplace
brûler
to burn
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Questions & Answers about Le bois brûle dans la cheminée.
Why is bois spelled the same in singular and plural, and how do I know it’s singular here?
In French the noun bois ends in –s in both singular and plural. You know it’s singular here because it’s preceded by the singular article le and the verb brûle is in the 3rd person singular. If it were plural you’d see les bois brûlent. The final –s is silent, so you pronounce it /bwa/.
Why do we use le bois instead of du bois?
Le bois with the definite article refers to the wood (the specific wood in the fireplace). Du bois (de + le) means some wood, an indefinite quantity. Here the speaker points to that particular wood, so le bois is more natural.
Why is the verb brûle written like that, and how do I know it’s the right form?
Brûle is the 3rd person singular present of brûler (to burn). For il/elle/on, you take the stem brûl- and add –e, giving brûle. The circumflex over u marks the historical loss of an s (from brusler) but doesn’t change the conjugation: il brûle = it burns or it is burning.
How can I stress that it’s happening right now, i.e. the wood is burning right now?
Use the periphrasis être en train de:
Le bois est en train de brûler.
This literally means “the wood is in the process of burning,” clearly marking the ongoing action.
Why do we use dans and not sur or another preposition before la cheminée?
Dans means “in” or “inside.” Since the wood is inside the fireplace, dans is correct. Sur would be “on” (on top of), which doesn’t fit here. You could also say au foyer, but brûler dans la cheminée is the simplest.
Does cheminée mean chimney or fireplace? I’m confused.
In French cheminée can mean both the fireplace (the hearth inside a room) and the chimney (the duct that vents smoke outside). Context tells you which. Here, since we talk about where the wood burns, it means the fireplace.
Are there any liaison rules I should know in Le bois brûle dans la cheminée?
A liaison happens when a normally silent consonant is pronounced because the next word begins with a vowel. In Le bois brûle, there’s no liaison between bois and brûle (brûle starts with b). In dans la cheminée, there’s no liaison either because la starts with l, not a vowel. So you keep each word separate.
How would I change the sentence to plural, like The woods are burning in the chimney?
If you literally pluralize bois, you get:
Les bois brûlent dans la cheminée.
Here les replaces le, and brûlent is the 3rd person plural form. However, if you mean logs, you’d use bûches:
Les bûches brûlent dans la cheminée.