Learn Hardcore French: Elle pratique le français avec ses collègues pendant la pause. - She practices French with her colleagues during the break.

With names of languages in French, you normally use the definite article (le, la, les) when they are direct objects of verbs like parler, étudier, apprendre, pratiquer, etc.

So you say:

Elle pratique le français. = She practices French.
Il étudie l’allemand. = He studies German.
Nous parlons l’espagnol. (often just Nous parlons espagnol in modern usage, but the article is very common with other verbs)

Using le in le français is standard and natural: it’s like saying the French language.

Why is français not capitalized?

In French:

The names of languages are not capitalized.
The names of nationalities used as adjectives are not capitalized either.
But nationalities used as nouns for people are capitalized.

Examples:

Je parle français. (I speak French – language, lowercase)
Elle est française. (She is French – adjective, lowercase)
Une Française (a French woman – noun, capital F)

So le français (the French language) is correctly written with a lowercase f.

Why is it ses collègues and not son collègues or sa collègues?

French possessive adjectives (mon, ma, mes / ton, ta, tes / son, sa, ses) agree with the thing owned, not with the owner.

The owner here is elle (she).
The thing owned is collègues, which is plural.

For il/elle/on:

son is used before a masculine singular noun
sa before a feminine singular noun
ses before any plural noun (masculine or feminine)

Since collègues is plural, you must use ses:

ses collègues = her colleagues / his colleagues

French does not distinguish his / her in the possessive form. Ses can mean his or her depending on context.

How do we know collègues is plural, and what is its gender?

You can see it’s plural because:

It ends with -s: collègues
The possessive is ses, the plural form.

The word collègue has the same form for masculine and feminine:

un collègue = a male colleague
une collègue = a female colleague
des collègues / ses collègues = colleagues (mixed or unknown gender)

So collègues is grammatically plural; gender is determined by the context or articles (un/une), but here we just know there is more than one colleague.

Could you say Elle pratique du français instead of Elle pratique le français?

You might occasionally hear pratiquer du français, but it sounds unusual or off in standard French in this context.

Pratiquer le français is the normal, idiomatic way to say practice French (the language).
Using du here would suggest an undefined quantity (some French), which works well with many activities or sports:
- pratiquer du sport = to do some sport
- pratiquer du yoga = to do yoga

With languages, the idiomatic pattern is:

parler le français / parler français
apprendre le français
pratiquer le français

So Elle pratique le français is the natural, correct version.

What exactly does pratiquer mean here? Is it like s’entraîner or s’exercer?

In this sentence, pratiquer means to use / to actively speak French, often with the idea of improving or maintaining the skill.

Comparisons:

pratiquer le français: to practice/use French, to put it into practice in real situations.
s’entraîner en français: to train, to practice, often more “exercise-like” or intensive.
s’exercer en français or s’exercer à parler français: to practice, often with exercises, drills.

Elle pratique le français avec ses collègues suggests she is using French in real conversation with them, not just doing book exercises.

Why is it pendant la pause and not dans la pause or à la pause?

Pendant is used to express the duration of an action: during.

pendant la pause = during the break / during the break time

Using the others would be odd:

dans la pause would literally be in the break, which isn’t idiomatic.
à la pause is sometimes heard regionally, but pendant la pause is the standard, clear choice in general French.

So pendant is the natural preposition to say that the activity happens while the break is taking place.

What does la pause refer to in this context?

In a work or school context, la pause usually means:

a break in the workday or school day (coffee break, short rest, etc.).

It could be:

la pause-café (coffee break)
la pause déjeuner (lunch break)

Here, just la pause is enough from context, like saying the break in English when it’s clear that it’s a work or school break.

Could the word order change, for example: Elle pratique le français pendant la pause avec ses collègues?

Yes, you can move the complements around, but you should be aware of what sounds natural and what is being emphasized.

Elle pratique le français avec ses collègues pendant la pause.
Neutral, common order: who does what, with whom, when.
Elle pratique le français pendant la pause avec ses collègues.
Still correct, but slightly heavier at the end; emphasis is less clear.

French generally prefers:

Verb + direct object
Then indirect complements (with whom, when, where), in an order that sounds smooth and clear.

The original sentence is the most natural-sounding.

Is there any liaison or special pronunciation to pay attention to in this sentence?

Yes, a few points:

Elle pratique le français
- Final e in elle is usually almost silent: [ɛl]
- pratique: [pʁa.tik] (final e silent)
- le: [lə]
- français: [fʁɑ̃.sɛ] (final s silent)
avec ses collègues
- avec: [a.vɛk] (you pronounce the final k)
- ses: [se]
- collègues: [kɔ.lɛɡ] (final -ues pronounced like g)
pendant la pause
- pendant: [pɑ̃.dɑ̃] (nasal vowels, final t silent)
- pause: usually [poz]

There is no obligatory liaison in this sentence, so each word is pronounced clearly on its own.

Why is the subject Elle capitalized?

Elle is capitalized because it is the first word of the sentence.

In the middle of a sentence, the subject pronoun would be lowercase:

elle = she
But at the beginning of a sentence, you always capitalize it:
Elle pratique le français…

So it’s capitalization due to position, not special grammar.

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral?

The sentence is neutral in register.

The vocabulary (pratiquer, collègues, pause) is standard.
The structure is simple and suitable for both spoken and written French.

You could say this:

To a teacher: Elle pratique le français avec ses collègues pendant la pause.
In a report or email.
In everyday conversation.

It’s appropriate in almost any context.