Learn Hardcore French: Elle est contente d'être célibataire, car elle veut d'abord penser à sa carrière. - She is happy to be single, because she first wants to think about her career.

être content(e) de + infinitive
- Elle est contente de partir. – She is happy to leave.
- Je suis content de te voir. – I’m happy to see you.

So:

Elle est contente d’être célibataire.
is literally: She is happy *to be single.*

Why do we use de after contente before an infinitive?

Many French adjectives take the preposition de before an infinitive that explains the reason or cause of the feeling. Content(e) is one of them:

content(e) de + infinitive
- Je suis content de venir. – I’m happy to come.
- Elle est contente d’être célibataire.

Other adjectives that typically use de:

heureux / heureuse de – happy to
fier / fière de – proud to
triste de – sad to

So de is required; you cannot omit it or replace it with à in this structure.

What exactly does célibataire mean? Is it like “alone” or “lonely”?

Célibataire means single or unmarried, in the relationship sense. It does not mean lonely.

It can describe someone not in a relationship, or at least not married.
It’s often used neutrally or even positively, as in this sentence: she’s happy to be single.

Compare:

Elle est célibataire. – She is single.
Elle est seule. – She is alone. (physically, or without company)
Elle est solitaire. – She is solitary / a loner (likes being alone).
Elle est isolée. – She is isolated.

So célibataire is about relationship status, not emotional loneliness.

Does célibataire change form for feminine or plural?

In spelling, célibataire is invariable in gender (same form for masculine and feminine), but it changes for plural:

Masculine singular: Il est célibataire.
Feminine singular: Elle est célibataire.
Masculine plural: Ils sont célibataires.
Feminine plural: Elles sont célibataires.

Only the plural adds -s; there is no separate feminine spelling.

What is the nuance of car here? Could we use parce que instead?

Yes, you could say:

Elle est contente d’être célibataire, parce qu’elle veut d’abord penser à sa carrière.

The meaning is almost the same, but there is a nuance:

car is more explanatory and slightly more written / formal. It introduces a reason in a calm, logical way, similar to “for” or “because” in written English.
parce que is the most neutral, everyday way to say “because” and is very common in spoken French.

In most spoken contexts, parce que would be more frequent, but car is perfectly correct and natural, especially in writing or slightly more careful speech.

What does d’abord mean exactly, and why is it here?

D’abord means:

“first,” “first of all,” “to begin with,” “at first.”

In the sentence:

Elle veut d’abord penser à sa carrière.
it means that her first priority is to think about her career, before other things (like relationships).

Similar expressions:

avant tout – above all / first and foremost
en premier – first (often more literal ordering)
pour le moment – for the moment (slightly different nuance: more “for now” than “first”)

Could we say Elle veut penser d’abord à sa carrière instead? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say:

Elle veut d’abord penser à sa carrière.
Elle veut penser d’abord à sa carrière.

Both are grammatically correct and natural. The nuance is very slight:

Elle veut d’abord penser à sa carrière.
Focuses on the order of her wishes: first, she wants to think about her career.
Elle veut penser d’abord à sa carrière.
Feels a bit more like: when she thinks, the first thing she wants to think about is her career.

In practice, for this meaning (“her first priority is her career”), Elle veut d’abord penser à sa carrière is very idiomatic.

Why do we say penser à sa carrière and not penser de or penser sur?

In French, penser uses different prepositions depending on the meaning:

penser à + noun / pronoun
- to think about (to have something in mind, to pay attention to it)
- Je pense à toi. – I’m thinking about you.
- Elle veut penser à sa carrière. – She wants to think about (focus on) her career.
penser de + noun / pronoun
- to think of something in the sense of having an opinion about it
- Qu’est-ce que tu penses de ce film ? – What do you think of this film?
penser + infinitive
- to intend / plan to
- Je pense partir demain. – I’m thinking of leaving tomorrow / I plan to leave tomorrow.

You almost never use penser sur in this context. So for “think about (focus on) her career,” the correct choice is penser à.

Why is it sa carrière and not son carrière?

In French, possessive adjectives (mon, ton, son, ma, ta, sa, etc.) agree with the gender and number of the noun they modify, not with the owner.

carrière is a feminine singular noun.
Therefore, we must use sa:
- sa carrière – her career / his career

Compare:

son travail – his/her work (because travail is masculine)
sa voiture – his/her car (because voiture is feminine)

So it’s sa carrière, even though “her” in English might suggest son to an English speaker.

Does sa carrière clearly mean “her career,” or could it also mean “his career”?

By itself, sa carrière is ambiguous in French: it can mean his career or her career, because sa only indicates that the noun (carrière) is feminine singular, not the gender of the owner.

In this specific sentence, the subject is Elle, so sa carrière is naturally understood as her career.

But grammatically, if the context were different, sa carrière could refer to a man’s career too; only context removes the ambiguity.

Why is the present tense (elle est, elle veut) used, instead of a future tense?

French often uses the present tense to express:

general truths or current situations
intentions or plans that are relevant now

In English, you might say:

“She is happy to be single, because she wants to focus on her career first.”

That’s also present tense in English, and the usage is parallel.

If you wanted to talk about future intentions more explicitly, you could use the future:

Elle sera contente d’être célibataire, car elle voudra d’abord penser à sa carrière.
But this would sound unusual here; it suggests a hypothetical or future situation. The original sentence is about her current state and current intention, so the present tense is natural and standard.

Could we say Elle est heureuse d’être célibataire instead of contente? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say:

Elle est heureuse d’être célibataire, car elle veut d’abord penser à sa carrière.

Both contente and heureuse express positive emotion, but:

contente = happy, pleased, satisfied; can be mild to moderately strong
heureuse = happy, often a bit stronger, closer to “very happy” or “truly happy”

So heureuse can sound more intense or more emotional than contente. The original with contente suggests she’s quite satisfied / pleased with being single, not necessarily overjoyed.