Learn Hardcore French: Nous parlons de la profession de Marie au café. - We talk about Marie's profession at the café.

Context decides which English translation fits best. In isolation, Nous parlons de la profession de Marie au café can naturally be rendered as “We are talking about Marie’s job at the café” or “We talk about Marie’s job at the café.”

Why do we need de after parlons? Can’t I just say Nous parlons la profession?

In French, when you talk about something, you use parler de:

parler de quelque chose / de quelqu’un = to talk about something / someone

So you must say:

Nous parlons de la profession de Marie. = We are talking about Marie’s profession.

You cannot say Nous parlons la profession; that is ungrammatical in this meaning.

Compare:

parler de = talk about
- Nous parlons de Marie. – We are talking about Marie.
parler à = talk to (a person)
- Nous parlons à Marie. – We are talking to Marie.
parler avec = talk with (a bit more interactive)
- Nous parlons avec Marie. – We are talking with Marie.

Why is it de la profession de Marie and not something like de Marie’s profession?

French doesn’t use the English ’s possessive. Instead, it usually uses de:

la profession de Marie = Marie’s profession
le livre de Paul = Paul’s book
la voiture de mon frère = my brother’s car

So de la profession de Marie literally means “of the profession of Marie,” which is how French expresses “about Marie’s profession.”

The structure is:

parler de
- la profession de Marie
  → de (from parler de) + la (article) + profession
  - de Marie (possessor)

Why do we have two de’s in de la profession de Marie? Isn’t one enough?

They have different roles:

The first de belongs to the verb parler de (to talk about):
- Nous parlons de … = We are talking about …
The second de expresses possession:
- la profession de Marie = Marie’s profession

So the full piece is:

parlons de (we talk about)
- la profession de Marie (Marie’s profession)
  = Nous parlons de la profession de Marie.

You can’t drop either de, because you would either break parler de or lose the “of Marie” (possessor) part.

Why is it la profession de Marie and not la profession à Marie for “Marie’s profession”?

In French, possession of this type is generally expressed with de, not à:

la profession de Marie = Marie’s profession
la maison de Pierre = Pierre’s house
le sac de Julie = Julie’s bag

À with a noun can sometimes indicate belonging to a place or an institution (for example, la bibliothèque de l’école, la mairie de Paris), but for a person’s possession in this simple sense, you should almost always use de, not à.

So la profession à Marie is incorrect for “Marie’s profession.”

What does au mean in au café, and why can’t we say à le café?

Au is a contraction of à + le:

à = at / to
le = the (masculine singular)
à + le → au

Because café is masculine singular (un café, le café), you must contract:

✅ au café = at the café
❌ à le café (never written or said this way)

Similarly:

à + les → aux
- aux restaurants = at the restaurants

Does au café mean “at the café” or “about the café”? Could this sentence mean we’re talking about the café itself?

In Nous parlons de la profession de Marie au café, au café is most naturally understood as a place: “at the café.”

So the usual reading is:

“We are talking about Marie’s profession at the café.”

Could it, in theory, mean “We are talking about Marie’s profession in relation to the café (her job at the café)”? Yes, context might allow that nuance, but by itself, French speakers will first interpret au café as where the conversation takes place, not what it’s about.

If you wanted to clearly say “We are talking about the café’s job/role,” you’d have to rephrase significantly; the current sentence doesn’t really say that.

Can au café go at the beginning of the sentence? Is the word order flexible?

Yes, you can move au café to the front to emphasize the location:

Au café, nous parlons de la profession de Marie.

Both:

Nous parlons de la profession de Marie au café.
Au café, nous parlons de la profession de Marie.

are correct. The second highlights the place more (“As for at the café, that’s where we talk about Marie’s profession.”). In everyday speech, the original order (with au café at the end) is very common and neutral.

Could I replace nous with on? What would change?

Yes, very naturally. You can say:

On parle de la profession de Marie au café.

Differences:

nous parlons = “we speak / we are speaking”
- Slightly more formal or written style.
on parle = literally “one speaks,” but in modern French very often means “we speak.”
- More informal and extremely common in spoken French.

Meaning-wise, here they are the same: “We are talking about Marie’s profession at the café.”

Is profession the usual word for “job”, or could I use métier, travail, or boulot instead?

Profession is correct, but it has a slightly formal / official feel, often for careers that require specific training or status (doctor, lawyer, teacher, etc.).

Other options:

métier
- Everyday word for “trade / occupation / job.”
- Nous parlons du métier de Marie au café.
travail
- More general “work / job.”
- Often used with a possessive: Nous parlons du travail de Marie.
boulot (informal, slangy)
- Equivalent to “job / gig / work” in a casual tone.
- Nous parlons du boulot de Marie au café.

So you could say, with slightly different register:

Nous parlons de la profession de Marie au café. (more formal/neutral)
Nous parlons du métier de Marie au café. (common, neutral)
Nous parlons du boulot de Marie au café. (informal)