Breakdown of L'avocat parle avec Marie dans le jardin.
Questions & Answers about L'avocat parle avec Marie dans le jardin.
In French, the definite article le becomes l' in front of a word that starts with a vowel sound (or silent h). This is called elision.
- le avocat → not allowed
- l'avocat → correct
The e from le is dropped and replaced with an apostrophe to make pronunciation smoother: l'avocat is pronounced as one unit: [lavoka].
Yes, avocat has two common meanings:
- a lawyer (a legal professional)
- an avocado (the fruit)
In this sentence, because parle avec Marie dans le jardin describes a person performing an action, l'avocat is clearly the lawyer.
Context in French usually makes it obvious which meaning is intended.
If you need to be extra clear in speech, you might say:
- un avocat (fruit) for the fruit
- un avocat (profession) or un avocat au tribunal for the lawyer
In this sentence, l'avocat is masculine because it uses the masculine article le → l'.
- Masculine: l'avocat = the (male) lawyer
- Feminine: l'avocate = the (female) lawyer
So:
- L'avocat parle avec Marie. → the male lawyer speaks with Marie
- L'avocate parle avec Marie. → the female lawyer speaks with Marie
The pronunciation is almost the same, but avocate has a final -t sound.
Parler is the infinitive form: to speak.
Here, you need a conjugated verb for il (he):
Present tense of parler:
- je parle
- tu parles
- il / elle / on parle
- nous parlons
- vous parlez
- ils / elles parlent
Because the subject l'avocat is singular and third person (he), you use il parle → L'avocat parle.
So:
- parler = to speak (infinitive)
- parle = speaks / is speaking (for je or il/elle/on)
Both are grammatically correct, but they have slightly different nuances:
parler à quelqu’un = to talk to someone
- Focuses on the direction of the speech (who you are addressing)
- L'avocat parle à Marie. = The lawyer speaks to Marie.
parler avec quelqu’un = to talk with someone
- Emphasizes an exchange / conversation between two people
- L'avocat parle avec Marie. = The lawyer is having a conversation with Marie.
In many everyday situations, you can choose either, depending on the nuance you want.
In French, proper names of people usually do not take an article:
- Marie parle. = Marie speaks.
- Je vois Paul. = I see Paul.
So you say avec Marie, not avec la Marie.
Using an article with a first name (like la Marie) is possible in some regional speech or to add a particular tone (affectionate, dismissive, teasing, etc.), but standard neutral French just uses the name alone.
In French, common nouns almost always need an article. You cannot usually drop it the way English sometimes does.
- le jardin = the garden
- un jardin = a garden
So you say:
- dans le jardin = in the garden
not - ✗ dans jardin
The structure is: dans + definite article + noun.
Both can be used, but they differ slightly:
dans le jardin
- Literally: in the garden (physically inside the garden space)
- Very common, neutral.
au jardin (from à + le jardin)
- Can also mean in the garden / at the garden, often a bit more idiomatic or literary.
- Sometimes sounds slightly more old-fashioned or stylistic, depending on context.
In everyday modern French, dans le jardin is more straightforward and common to describe location.
Yes, you can say:
- L'avocat parle avec Marie dans le jardin.
- L'avocat parle dans le jardin avec Marie.
Both are grammatically correct and mean essentially the same thing.
French prefers the order:
- verb
- indirect object / person (avec Marie)
- place (dans le jardin)
But place and companion can often be swapped. Context and emphasis can influence your choice:
- avec Marie at the end might emphasize with Marie.
- dans le jardin at the end might emphasize in the garden.
No, not in standard French. Unlike Spanish or Italian, French normally requires the subject pronoun:
- L'avocat parle avec Marie dans le jardin.
- Il parle avec Marie dans le jardin.
You can only drop the subject in an imperative (a command):
- Parle avec Marie dans le jardin. = Speak with Marie in the garden. (you, singular, informal)
- Parlez avec Marie dans le jardin. = Speak with Marie in the garden. (you, plural or formal)
In that case, parle is not present indicative; it’s imperative.
French does not usually use a special continuous tense like English is talking. The simple present parle often covers both:
- L'avocat parle avec Marie dans le jardin.
= The lawyer speaks / is speaking with Marie in the garden.
If you want to emphasize that the action is happening right now, you can use être en train de:
- L'avocat est en train de parler avec Marie dans le jardin.
= The lawyer is in the process of talking with Marie in the garden.
Approximate pronunciation in IPA:
[lavoka paʁl avɛk maʁi dɑ̃ lə ʒaʁdɛ̃]
Key points:
- L'avocat → [lavoka]
- The t is silent.
- parle → [paʁl]
- Final -e is silent; you hear the r and l.
- avec → [avɛk]
- Pronounced clearly with a final k sound.
- Marie → [maʁi]
- Similar to English Mah-ree but with a French r.
- dans → [dɑ̃]
- Nasal vowel; you don’t really pronounce a clear n.
- le jardin → [lə ʒaʁdɛ̃]
- jardin has another nasal vowel at the end [dɛ̃], and j is like the s in measure.
There are no required liaisons (linking consonants) in this sentence, so each word is pronounced quite separately.