La femme lit un livre dans le jardin.

The woman reads a book in the garden.

Breakdown of La femme lit un livre dans le jardin.

• dans: in
• le jardin: the garden
• lire: to read
• le livre: the book
• la femme: the woman

Questions & Answers about La femme lit un livre dans le jardin.

Why is it La femme and not Une femme?

Use la (the) when the woman is specific or known in context. Use une (a) for an unspecified woman. For example: La femme du voisin lit… (the neighbor’s wife/woman) vs Une femme lit… (some woman).

Why is the verb lit and not lis or lisez?

Because the subject is third-person singular (she). Present tense of lire:

• je lis
• tu lis
• il/elle/on lit
• nous lisons
• vous lisez
• ils/elles lisent

Does the verb form change because femme is feminine?

No. French verb endings don’t change with gender, only with person/number. You’d still say L’homme lit… (The man reads…) with the same verb form lit.

Why un livre and not une livre?

Because livre meaning “book” is masculine: un livre. The feminine une livre exists, but it means “a pound” (unit of weight), not a book.

Does un here mean “a” or “one”?

Usually it means “a.” If you specifically mean the number one, you can say un seul livre (one single book) or stress un in speech.

Is lit also the word for “bed”?

Yes. lit (pronounced “lee”) can be:

• the verb “reads” (il/elle lit), or
• the noun “bed” (un lit). Context tells them apart.

Why dans le jardin instead of au jardin?

• dans le jardin = in/inside the garden (neutral, very common).
• au jardin = at/in the garden (contraction of à + le). It’s fine too, often “at the garden,” and can feel a bit more idiomatic or tied to set phrases (e.g., au jardin public).

Can I say dans un jardin?

Yes, but it changes the meaning: dans un jardin = in a/any garden (unspecified). dans le jardin = in the (specific) garden.

Can I move the place phrase to the front?

Yes: Dans le jardin, la femme lit un livre. French allows fronting place/time phrases for emphasis or flow.

How should I pronounce tricky parts?

• femme ≈ “fam” (final -e silent).
• lit ≈ “lee”.
• un has a nasal vowel (like “uh” said through the nose).
• livre ≈ “leevr” (with the French guttural r).
• dans has a nasal vowel; the “n” isn’t fully pronounced.
• jardin starts with the “zh” sound (like the s in “measure”), and ends with a nasal vowel.
• Liaison: You may pronounce a linking t in lit un (li-t-un). No liaison in dans le; the s in dans is silent here.

How do I replace dans le jardin with a pronoun?

Use y for places introduced by à, dans, sur, etc.: Elle y lit un livre. (She reads a book there.)

How do I replace the book with a pronoun?

• Known/specific book: Elle le lit dans le jardin. (“She reads it…”)
• An unspecified “one book”: Elle en lit un dans le jardin. (en replaces the noun and you keep the number “un”.)

How do I make the sentence plural?

Les femmes lisent des livres dans le jardin.

• les femmes = the women
• lisent = 3rd person plural (the -ent is silent; pronounced like “leez”)
• des livres = some books (indefinite plural)

How do I ask a yes/no question with this sentence?

Three common ways:

• Intonation: La femme lit un livre dans le jardin ?
• Est-ce que: Est-ce que la femme lit un livre dans le jardin ?
• Inversion: La femme lit-elle un livre dans le jardin ?

How do I make it negative?

La femme ne lit pas de livre dans le jardin. With direct objects, un/une/des typically become de after ne…pas (no book). If you just negate the place: La femme ne lit pas dans le jardin.

Does the French present mean both “reads” and “is reading”?

Yes. La femme lit… can mean “The woman reads…” or “The woman is reading…”. To emphasize the ongoing action, use être en train de: La femme est en train de lire un livre…