Paul étudie l’informatique, mais sa sœur préfère la physique.

Paul studies computer science, but his sister prefers physics.

Breakdown of Paul étudie l’informatique, mais sa sœur préfère la physique.

• Paul: Paul
• étudier: to study
• mais: but
• préférer: to prefer
• la sœur: the sister
• sa: his
• l'informatique: the computer science
• la physique: the physics

Questions & Answers about Paul étudie l’informatique, mais sa sœur préfère la physique.

Why is it étudie and not étudier?

Étudier is the infinitive form (to study), like English “to study.”

In the sentence, we need a conjugated verb for Paul in the present tense:

• Je étudie
• Tu étudies
• Il / Elle / On étudie
• Nous étudions
• Vous étudiez
• Ils / Elles étudient

Since Paul = il (he), we use il étudie → Paul étudie.

Using Paul étudier would be like saying “Paul to study,” which is ungrammatical in both French and English in this context.

Why do we say étudie l’informatique and not just étudie informatique?

In French, school subjects normally take the definite article (le, la, l’, les) after verbs like étudier, aimer, préférer, etc.

• Paul étudie l’informatique. = “Paul studies computer science.”
• Elle aime la biologie.
• Nous préférons les mathématiques.

So l’informatique needs the article l’.
Saying étudie informatique (without the article) sounds incomplete or wrong to a native speaker.

What exactly does l’informatique mean? Is it “IT,” “computers,” or “information”?

L’informatique is a feminine noun meaning roughly computer science / computing / IT. It covers things like:

• programming
• software
• hardware concepts
• networks, etc.

It does not mean ordinary “information” (that’s l’information).

Also, informatique can be an adjective:

• un système informatique = a computer system
• un problème informatique = an IT / computer problem

But in this sentence it’s a noun: l’informatique = the field of computer science / IT.

Why is it l’informatique with l’ and not la informatique?

Informatique is feminine, so the article is la.
However, French uses l’ before any noun (masculine or feminine) that starts with a vowel or a silent h, to make pronunciation easier.

• la
  • informatique → l’informatique
• le
  • ordinateur → l’ordinateur
• la
  • histoire → l’histoire

So l’ here is just the “elided” form of la.

Why is it sa sœur and not son sœur, since sœur starts with a vowel sound?

In French, possessive adjectives (son, sa, ses) agree with the thing owned, not with the owner.

• sœur (sister) is feminine singular → you must use sa.
• frère (brother) is masculine singular → you use son.

So:

• sa sœur = his/her sister
• son frère = his/her brother

You only use son before a feminine noun to avoid a bad sound clash when the noun begins with a vowel or silent h:

• son amie (feminine friend, starts with a vowel)
• sa sœur starts with a consonant (s), so there’s no need to change to son.

Therefore: sa sœur is correct.

What is that œ in sœur, and how do you pronounce it?

The œ is a ligature (two letters combined into one). In modern typing it’s often written as oe, but œ is the standard spelling.

Pronunciation:

• sœur sounds roughly like “sir” in English but with rounded lips.
• The r at the end is pronounced in French.

Phonetically (simplified): /sœʀ/ or /sœʁ/.
Writing soeur is acceptable on a computer/phone when you can’t type œ, but sœur is more correct.

Why is it préfère and not préféré or préférer?

• préférer = infinitive (to prefer)
• préféré = past participle (preferred)
• préfère (with è) is a present tense conjugation.

Here, sa sœur = elle, so we use elle préfère:

• Je préfère
• Tu préfères
• Il / Elle / On préfère
• Nous préférons
• Vous préférez
• Ils / Elles préfèrent

The change from é to è (préférer → préfère) is a regular spelling change for verbs like préférer, espérer, etc., in certain forms. It reflects a change in vowel sound but doesn’t change the basic meaning.

Why is it préfère la physique and not préfère physique or préfère de la physique?

With general likes, dislikes, and preferences (verbs like aimer, adorer, détester, préférer), French usually uses the definite article:

• Elle préfère la physique. = She prefers physics (as a subject in general).
• J’aime la musique.
• Nous détestons les maths.

So:

• préfère physique → incorrect (missing article)
• préfère de la physique → sounds like “some physics” in a partitive sense, which is odd with préférer in this context.

The natural form is préfère la physique.

Why is mais used here, and does it work like “but” in English?

Yes, mais is the French equivalent of “but” and is used to contrast two ideas:

• Paul étudie l’informatique, mais sa sœur préfère la physique.
  Paul studies computer science, but his sister prefers physics.

It works much like English “but”:

• Je veux venir, mais je suis occupé. = I want to come, but I’m busy.

The comma before mais in French is common and natural in writing.

Is the word order in sa sœur préfère la physique always subject–verb–object like in English?

Yes, in simple statements French generally uses Subject – Verb – Object, just like English:

• Sa sœur (subject) préfère (verb) la physique (object).

You don’t normally put the object before the verb in a neutral statement:

• ❌ Sa sœur la physique préfère → wrong in normal French.
• ✅ Sa sœur préfère la physique.

Word order can change in questions or with object pronouns, but for simple statements, subject–verb–object is the standard.

Could I say Paul étudie l’ordinateur to mean “Paul studies computers”?

No, Paul étudie l’ordinateur would sound like “Paul is studying the computer” (a particular machine), and even that sounds a bit odd.

To express the field of study, you need:

• Paul étudie l’informatique. (computer science / computing / IT)
• Or more casually: Paul fait des études d’informatique. (Paul is doing computer science studies.)

If you want to emphasize physical machines, you might say:

• Paul travaille sur les ordinateurs. = Paul works on computers.

But for the academic subject, l’informatique is the natural word.