Breakdown of Pendant cette formation, elle fait aussi un stage dans une petite entreprise.
Questions & Answers about Pendant cette formation, elle fait aussi un stage dans une petite entreprise.
In French, une formation usually means a training course, a program of study, or vocational education.
So in the sentence, cette formation is “this training course / this program.”
It is a false friend:
- English formation = the way something is formed/arranged (rock formation, troop formation).
- French formation (in education/work context) = training, course, program.
Pendant focuses on time: it means during.
- Pendant cette formation = during this training period / while this training is going on.
Dans is more about location or being “inside” something.
- Dans cette formation would sound like “inside this course (as part of its content),” which is possible but less natural here.
The sentence is emphasizing the time when she does the internship, so pendant is the natural choice.
French generally uses the simple present where English often uses the present continuous.
- Elle fait aussi un stage = “She is also doing an internship.”
- French doesn’t need a separate form like is doing; fait covers both does and is doing, depending on context.
So:
- English: She is doing an internship.
- French: Elle fait un stage.
Yes, the French present can refer to the near future when the context makes it clear.
If we’re talking about a planned training program, elle fait aussi un stage can be understood as:
- “She also does an internship (as part of it)”
or - “She will also do an internship (as part of it).”
For a clearly future meaning, French can also use the future tense:
- Elle fera aussi un stage = She will also do an internship.
But in everyday speech, the present is very often used for scheduled or planned future actions.
Literally, faire un stage means “to do an internship / work placement / training period.”
It is a very common, fairly fixed expression in French. You don’t usually say:
- ✗ prendre un stage
- ✗ avoir un stage (you can say this, but it often means “to have an internship (position)”, not the idea of “doing it”).
The most natural, standard way to say “do an internship” is:
- faire un stage.
Yes, it’s another false friend.
- French un stage (in this context) = an internship, a placement, a work training period.
- English stage = performance area in a theater, or a phase/step.
So:
- faire un stage = to do an internship, not to go on stage.
In French, every noun has a grammatical gender that must be memorized.
- stage is masculine → un stage.
There isn’t always a logical reason; it’s just part of the word’s dictionary entry. You have to learn le stage / un stage as a unit.
In elle fait aussi un stage, aussi means also / too / as well and modifies the verb phrase.
Common, neutral position:
- Elle fait aussi un stage.
Other possible positions (with slight changes in emphasis):
- Elle fait un stage aussi. (a bit more spoken, “she does an internship too”)
- Elle aussi fait un stage. (“she too does an internship”, focusing on she compared to others)
The standard, most natural version with no special emphasis is exactly what you have:
- Elle fait aussi un stage.
Dans here means “inside / within” an organization:
- Elle fait un stage dans une petite entreprise. = She does an internship in / at a small company.
À with companies is not normally used to mean “working/doing an internship there.” Instead, French uses:
- dans une entreprise
- or chez
- company name: un stage chez Renault, un stage chez Google
So:
- Generic company: dans une entreprise
- Named company: chez
- name.
Une petite entreprise most often means a small business / small company (in terms of size, number of employees, turnover, etc.), not physically small.
Context decides, but in work/education contexts, people will naturally understand:
- une petite entreprise = a small business, an SME-type company.
If you really wanted to emphasize the physical size of the building, you’d usually add something or phrase it differently.
In French, many adjectives usually come after the noun, but some common ones go before.
Petit / grande / bon / mauvais / beau / jeune / vieux and a few others often come before:
- une petite entreprise
- un grand appartement
- une bonne idée
So une petite entreprise follows the normal pattern: adjective before the noun for size.
Yes, that word order is possible:
- Pendant cette formation, elle fait aussi un stage.
- Elle fait aussi un stage pendant cette formation.
Both are grammatical and mean the same thing.
Differences in feel:
- Starting with Pendant cette formation highlights the time frame first.
- Putting it at the end (… un stage pendant cette formation) is a bit more neutral and sounds very natural in spoken French.
Neither is wrong; it’s mostly a matter of style and emphasis.
Faire is irregular. In the present tense:
- je fais
- tu fais
- il / elle / on fait
- nous faisons
- vous faites
- ils / elles font
So for elle, the correct form is elle fait (no s at the end), even though tu fais does have an s.
Thus:
- Pendant cette formation, elle fait aussi un stage… ✅
- ✗ elle fais ❌ (incorrect).
Yes, but the meaning changes slightly:
- Pendant cette formation = during this (specific) training course – it’s clearly identified in the context.
- Pendant la formation = during the training – refers to “the training” more generally, or the one already known from the context, but without stressing “this one here” as much.
If the learner and speaker have a particular course in mind (for example, one just mentioned), both can work; cette formation simply points to it a bit more explicitly.