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Usages of au
La glace fond au soleil.
Ice cream melts in the sun.
Nous le lui apportons ce soir au centre-ville.
We are bringing it to her this evening downtown.
Bien sûr, Paul garde du beurre au frigo pour le petit-déjeuner.
Of course, Paul keeps butter in the fridge for breakfast.
Ensuite, j'étends le linge dehors au soleil.
Then I hang the laundry outside in the sun.
Après le sport, j'ai mal aux jambes et au dos.
After exercising, my legs and my back hurt.
Ma jambe va mieux aujourd'hui, mais j'ai encore un peu mal au dos.
My leg is better today, but my back still hurts a little.
Au matin, sa fièvre baisse un peu, mais la fatigue reste forte.
In the morning, her fever goes down a little, but the tiredness remains strong.
Quand tu seras en France, tu t’y habitueras vite, au nord comme au sud.
When you are in France, you will get used to it quickly, in the north as well as in the south.
Dans ce pays, le chômage baisse au nord mais reste élevé au sud.
In this country, unemployment is going down in the north but remains high in the south.
La nuit, la pollution sonore est moins forte dans notre quartier qu’au centre‑ville.
At night, noise pollution is weaker in our neighborhood than downtown.
Nous restons dans l'ombre parce qu'il fait trop chaud au soleil.
We stay in the shade because it is too hot in the sun.
Au centre‑ville, il aime traverser une rue piétonne avec une vieille fontaine.
Downtown, he likes to cross a pedestrian street with an old fountain.
J’ai beau dormir huit heures, j’ai encore mal à l’épaule et au front quand je me réveille.
Even though I sleep eight hours, my shoulder and forehead still hurt when I wake up.
Au rayon des chaussures, le vendeur parle doucement à ma fille.
In the shoe department, the salesman speaks softly to my daughter.
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“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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