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Questions & Answers about Elle fait les courses tôt le matin pour éviter le monde.
What does the expression faire les courses actually mean?
It’s the set phrase for doing the household shopping, especially groceries. It does not mean going clothes-shopping for fun. For clothes or leisure shopping, you’d typically say faire du shopping or faire les magasins.
Why is it les courses and not des courses?
- Faire les courses is the default, idiomatic way to talk about grocery shopping (the routine household task).
- Faire des courses also exists, but it generally means “to run some errands / do some shopping” (more open-ended and not necessarily groceries).
In everyday speech, many people use both; when you mean the weekly groceries, les is the safest, most idiomatic choice.
Can I say faire ses courses?
Yes. Elle fait ses courses is very common and emphasizes that she’s doing her own shopping. Both faire les courses and faire ses courses are fine; ses can feel a bit more personal or specific.
Why is courses plural?
In French, shopping/errands are conceptualized as multiple items/errands, hence the plural les courses. The singular une course means “an errand” or “a race,” but the routine activity is plural.
Is acheter les courses correct?
Not really. You normally say faire les courses. If you want to use acheter, you’d buy the things themselves: acheter des provisions / des produits / à manger. Saying acheter les courses is unidiomatic.
What does le monde mean here?
Here le monde means “people” or “crowds,” not “the world.” So éviter le monde = “to avoid the crowds.” Synonyms: la foule, les gens. Common related phrase: Il y a du monde (“It’s crowded / There are a lot of people”).
Why le monde and not du monde?
- With presence: Il y a du monde = “There are (some) people; it’s busy.”
- With éviter, the idiomatic object is definite: éviter le monde (avoid crowds/the crowd in general). If you want a partitive idea with éviter, you usually switch to an infinitive: éviter de voir du monde (avoid seeing people).
Can I move tôt le matin around in the sentence?
Yes:
- Neutral: Elle fait les courses tôt le matin…
- Fronted for emphasis: Tôt le matin, elle fait les courses… Avoid splitting the object: Elle fait tôt le matin les courses sounds awkward. You can also say le matin tôt, but tôt le matin is more common.
What’s the difference between tôt le matin, de bonne heure, and de grand matin?
- tôt le matin: early in the morning (neutral).
- de bonne heure: early (slightly more idiomatic/colloquial).
- de grand matin: very early, at the crack of dawn (stronger emphasis). You may also hear au petit matin for the very early morning hours.
What’s the difference between matin and matinée?
- le matin refers to the morning as a time period in general or as a point on the daily schedule.
- la matinée emphasizes the duration of the morning.
So tôt le matin = early in the morning; dans la matinée = at some point during the morning (not necessarily early).
Why is it le matin and not du matin or au matin?
- Use le matin for habitual or general time: Elle fait les courses le matin.
- Use du matin after a clock time: à 7 heures du matin.
- au matin is rare/poetic; in everyday French, prefer le matin.
What does the tense fait convey here?
Fait is present tense (3rd person singular of faire). In French, the present can express:
- A current action: “She is doing…”
- A habit: “She does (regularly)…”
- Near-future in context: “She’s doing (soon)…”
For an explicit future, use Elle va faire… (near future) or Elle fera… (simple future).
How do I replace les courses with a pronoun?
Use the direct object pronoun les before the verb:
Elle les fait tôt le matin pour éviter le monde.
In the past: Elle les a faites tôt le matin… (agreement because les = feminine plural).
How does éviter work grammatically?
- éviter + noun: éviter le monde, éviter la foule.
- éviter de + infinitive: éviter de voir du monde, éviter d’attendre.
Don’t use éviter à with a direct object; éviter à quelqu’un de + infinitif exists but means “to spare someone from doing” (different structure).
Are there regional alternatives to faire les courses?
Yes:
- Québec: faire l’épicerie
- Belgium/Switzerland (and some regions): faire (ses) commissions
- France: faire les courses is standard.
Could courses mean “races” here?
No, context rules it out.
- faire une course = to run a race / do an errand (singular).
- faire les courses = to do the shopping (fixed plural expression).
Any quick pronunciation tips for the whole sentence?
- fait [fɛ] (final -t silent)
- tôt [to] (final -t silent; long “o”)
- les courses [le kuʁs] (no liaison between les and courses)
- matin [matɛ̃] (nasal vowel at the end)
- monde [mɔ̃d] (nasal “on” and pronounced final -d)
- éviter [evite] (both é sound like “ay”).
Can I start with the purpose clause: Pour éviter le monde…?
Yes: Pour éviter le monde, elle fait les courses tôt le matin.
You can also use a slightly more formal variant: Afin d’éviter le monde, elle fait les courses tôt le matin.