Marie déjeune à la cafétéria du campus avec ses amis.

Marie has lunch at the campus cafeteria with her friends.

Breakdown of Marie déjeune à la cafétéria du campus avec ses amis.

• Marie: Marie
• l'ami: the friend
• avec: with
• à: at
• ses: her
• du: of the
• déjeuner: to have lunch
• la cafétéria: the cafeteria
• le campus: the campus

Questions & Answers about Marie déjeune à la cafétéria du campus avec ses amis.

What exactly does déjeune mean here, and how is it different from mange?

Déjeune is the 3rd person singular of the verb déjeuner, which (in France) usually means “to have lunch”.

• Marie déjeune ≈ Marie is having lunch / Marie has lunch.
• Marie mange ≈ Marie eats.

So:

• déjeuner focuses on the meal (lunch in France, breakfast in Quebec).
• manger is more general: just “to eat” (could be any food at any time).

You could say:

• Marie mange à la cafétéria… (Marie eats at the cafeteria…)
• Marie déjeune à la cafétéria… (Marie has lunch at the cafeteria…)

Both are correct, but déjeune is more specific about the meal.

Why is it déjeune and not déjeuner in the sentence?

Déjeuner is the infinitive form: to have lunch.

In a sentence with a subject, you need a conjugated verb. “Marie” is 3rd person singular (she), so:

• Infinitive: déjeuner (to have lunch)
• Conjugated: elle déjeune (she has lunch)

So we say Marie déjeune, not Marie déjeuner.

How do you conjugate déjeuner in the present tense?

Here is déjeuner (to have lunch) in the présent de l’indicatif:

• je déjeune – I have lunch
• tu déjeunes – you have lunch (singular, informal)
• il / elle / on déjeune – he / she / one has lunch
• nous déjeunons – we have lunch
• vous déjeunez – you have lunch (plural or formal)
• ils / elles déjeunent – they have lunch

In the sentence, Marie déjeune uses the il/elle/on form: déjeune.

Why is it à la cafétéria and not au cafétéria?

The choice depends on the gender and number of the noun:

• à + le = au (masculine singular)
• à + la = à la (feminine singular)
• à + l’ = à l’ (before a vowel or mute h)
• à + les = aux (plural)

Cafétéria is feminine singular, so:

• à la cafétéria = at the cafeteria

If it were masculine, you’d say au, e.g.:

• au restaurant (at the restaurant) – because restaurant is masculine.

So au cafétéria is incorrect because cafétéria is feminine.

What is the gender of cafétéria, and does it affect anything?

Cafétéria is feminine in French: la cafétéria.

This affects:

• The article: la cafétéria, une cafétéria, à la cafétéria.
• Any adjectives describing it:
  • la cafétéria moderne
  • une petite cafétéria

In this sentence, its gender determines that we say à la cafétéria, not au cafétéria.

Could we say dans la cafétéria du campus instead of à la cafétéria du campus? What is the difference?

Both are possible, but there’s a nuance:

• à la cafétéria du campus

  • Often means “at the campus cafeteria” in a more general sense.
  • It focuses on the location as a place of activity (where she usually eats, where she goes for lunch).

• dans la cafétéria du campus

  • Literally “in the campus cafeteria.”
  • Emphasizes being inside the building/room.

In many everyday contexts, à la cafétéria is the more natural, default way to say where someone eats.

What does du campus mean, and why is it du instead of de le?

Du is a contraction (a combination) of de + le:

• de + le = du
• de + la = de la
• de + l’ = de l’
• de + les = des

Campus is masculine singular: le campus.
So de le campus becomes du campus.

la cafétéria du campus = “the campus cafeteria” / “the cafeteria of the campus”.

Is campus really a French word, and how is it used?

Yes, campus is used in French, borrowed from English.

• It usually refers to a university campus, just like in English.
• It’s masculine: le campus, du campus, sur le campus.

Common expressions:

• le campus universitaire – the university campus
• vivre sur le campus – to live on campus
• la cafétéria du campus – the campus cafeteria

Why is it ses amis and not ses amies, even though Marie is a girl?

In French, the masculine plural form is used for:

• A group of males, or
• A mixed group (males + females), or

• A group whose gender is unknown or not specified.

• amis = masculine plural (friends)
• amies = feminine plural (female friends only)

So:

• ses amis can mean:
  • her (male) friends,
  • her mixed group of friends,
  • or just “her friends” with no focus on gender.
• ses amies would explicitly mean her female friends, all girls.

The sentence probably implies a mixed or unspecified group, so ses amis is normal.

Why do we use ses and not son, sa, or leurs before amis?

French possessive adjectives agree with the thing owned, not with the owner’s gender.

For son / sa / ses:

• Use son before masculine singular nouns:
  
  • son ami – his/her (male) friend
• Use sa before feminine singular nouns:
  
  • sa maison – his/her house
• Use ses before any plural noun (masculine or feminine):
  
  • ses amis – his/her friends
  • ses amies – his/her (female) friends

Since amis is plural, we must use ses, regardless of whether Marie is a woman.

Leurs would mean “their” (plural owners), which is not the case here.

Why isn’t there an article like les before amis? Why not avec les amis?

There is a determiner there: ses.

In French, you don’t put both a possessive and a definite article before the same noun. You choose one:

• les amis – the friends
• ses amis – her/his friends

So:

• avec ses amis = with her friends
• avec les amis = with the friends (specific friends already known from context)

Here we want “her friends,” so ses amis is correct and we don’t add les.

How do you pronounce the sentence Marie déjeune à la cafétéria du campus avec ses amis?

Approximate pronunciation (France):

• Marie → ma-REE [ma.ʁi]
• déjeune → day-ZHUN [de.ʒœn]
• à la → ah la [a la]
• cafétéria → ka-fay-tay-RYA [ka.fe.te.ʁja]
• du → dy (like “dew”) [dy]
• campus → kɑ̃-PUSS (nasal “an”) [kɑ̃.pys]
• avec → a-VEK [a.vɛk]
• ses → say [se]
• amis → za-MI [za.mi] — note the liaison: ses‿amis

Spoken smoothly (with the main liaison):

ma-REE day-ZHUN ah la ka-fay-tay-RYA dy kɑ̃-PUSS a-VEK say-za-MI

What is the difference between à with an accent and a without an accent?

• à (with grave accent) is usually a preposition:

  • à la cafétéria – at the cafeteria
  • à Paris – in Paris
  • donner quelque chose à quelqu’un – give something to someone

• a (no accent) is the 3rd person singular form of avoir (to have) in the present tense:

  • il a – he has
  • Marie a un livre – Marie has a book

In your sentence, à la cafétéria uses the preposition à, so it must take the accent.

Can we move avec ses amis to another place in the sentence? For example: Marie déjeune avec ses amis à la cafétéria du campus?

Yes, French word order is flexible, and your alternative is natural:

• Marie déjeune à la cafétéria du campus avec ses amis.
• Marie déjeune avec ses amis à la cafétéria du campus.

Both mean the same thing. Common patterns are:

• Subject + Verb + Place + Company
  → Marie déjeune à la cafétéria du campus avec ses amis.
• Subject + Verb + Company + Place
  → Marie déjeune avec ses amis à la cafétéria du campus.

The emphasis can shift slightly, but the meaning stays basically the same.

Is du campus necessary? Could we just say à la cafétéria avec ses amis?

It depends on what you want to say:

• à la cafétéria avec ses amis

  • “at the cafeteria with her friends”
  • No information about which cafeteria.

• à la cafétéria du campus avec ses amis

  • “at the campus cafeteria with her friends”
  • Specifies the cafeteria’s location/ownership.

So du campus is not grammatically required, but it adds useful detail: we know which cafeteria it is.