Breakdown of Je prépare un gâteau pour l’anniversaire de Marie.
Questions & Answers about Je prépare un gâteau pour l’anniversaire de Marie.
- préparer focuses on the preparation steps (gathering ingredients, mixing, baking).
- faire is more general: “to make” or “to do.”
Both are correct: Je prépare un gâteau emphasises the cooking process, while Je fais un gâteau simply states you’re making one.
un is the indefinite article, meaning “a cake.” You use it when you’re introducing something new or unspecified.
le is the definite article, “the cake,” used when the cake is already known to the listener:
• Je prépare le gâteau que tu as commandé. (“I’m preparing the cake you ordered.”)
The circumflex (^) in gâteau signifies two things:
- Historical letter loss: old French had gastel.
- A slightly longer “a” sound.
It also helps distinguish gâteau (cake) from an unaccented gateau (which has no meaning).
French elides (drops) the vowel in le before a word starting with a vowel or mute h.
• le anniversaire → l’anniversaire (the apostrophe replaces the dropped e).
pour l’anniversaire de Marie clarifies the purpose—“for Marie’s birthday.”
If you said simply pour Marie, it means “for Marie” in a general sense and doesn’t specify why or when.
Yes. French uses de to express possession or relationship, like the English apostrophe-s.
• l’anniversaire de Marie = “Marie's birthday.”
You can use de + noun/pronoun whenever you need to link things (e.g., le livre de Paul = “Paul’s book”).
Yes. son anniversaire means “her birthday.”
Use it when the owner is clear from context. If there’s any ambiguity about whose birthday it is, l’anniversaire de Marie is more explicit.