Je prépare un sandwich au fromage.

I am preparing a cheese sandwich.

Breakdown of Je prépare un sandwich au fromage.

• je: I
• le fromage: the cheese
• le sandwich: the sandwich
• au: with
• préparer: to make

Questions & Answers about Je prépare un sandwich au fromage.

Why is it je prépare and not something like je suis en train de préparer for “I am making”?

French usually uses the simple present (je prépare) where English would use the present continuous (“I am preparing / I am making”).
Je prépare un sandwich au fromage can mean both:

• “I prepare a cheese sandwich” (general habit), and
• “I’m preparing a cheese sandwich (right now).”

If you really want to insist that the action is happening right now, you can say je suis en train de préparer un sandwich au fromage, but it’s not necessary in most everyday contexts.

Why is it un sandwich and not une sandwich?

In French, every noun has a grammatical gender, masculine or feminine, which is mostly arbitrary and must be memorized.
Sandwich is masculine, so it takes the masculine indefinite article un, not the feminine une.

• un sandwich = a sandwich
• le sandwich = the sandwich

So un sandwich au fromage = “a cheese sandwich.”

What exactly does au mean in un sandwich au fromage?

Au is a contraction of à + le:

• à = “to / at / with (in some expressions)”
• le = “the” (masculine singular)

So à + le fromage → au fromage.

In food expressions like sandwich au fromage, pizza au fromage, glace à la vanille, this structure means “with … / made with … / flavored with …”.
So un sandwich au fromage is literally “a sandwich with the cheese,” but idiomatically it’s just “a cheese sandwich.”

Why is it sandwich au fromage and not sandwich de fromage or sandwich avec du fromage?

All three can exist, but they don’t feel the same:

• un sandwich au fromage

  • The most natural and standard way to say “a cheese sandwich.”
  • Sounds like a type of sandwich (like “ham sandwich,” “cheese sandwich”).

• un sandwich avec du fromage

  • Literally “a sandwich with some cheese.”
  • Emphasizes cheese as one ingredient among others. Could be a more general “sandwich that happens to include cheese,” possibly with other fillings.

• un sandwich de fromage

  • Usually feels odd or wrong in this context.
  • de often suggests material the object is made out of (e.g. une table de bois – “a wooden table”).
  • un sandwich de fromage can sound like “a sandwich made of cheese” (like the bread itself is cheese), which isn’t what you mean.

So for the normal “cheese sandwich,” you say un sandwich au fromage.

Why doesn’t fromage have its own article, like du fromage?

The article is already inside au.

• au fromage = à + le fromage

So the le in le fromage has been swallowed by the contraction au.
You can’t say à du fromage in this pattern; French chooses à + le/la/les for these “X with Y” food types:

• un sandwich au jambon (ham sandwich)
• une pizza aux champignons (mushroom pizza)
• une tarte aux pommes (apple tart)

In all of these, the article is included in au / aux / à la.

Can I say Je fais un sandwich au fromage instead of Je prépare un sandwich au fromage?

Yes, you can. Both are correct:

• Je fais un sandwich au fromage
• Je prépare un sandwich au fromage

Faire is more general (“to do / make”), and very common in speech.
Préparer puts a tiny bit more focus on the idea of preparing or getting something ready, but in this sentence, the difference is small. Learners can freely use faire here without sounding wrong.

Can Je prépare un sandwich au fromage also mean “I’m going to make a cheese sandwich (soon)”?

Yes. The French present tense can often refer to a near future that is planned or about to happen, especially when context makes it clear.

Depending on context, Je prépare un sandwich au fromage might mean:

• “I’m making a cheese sandwich (right now).”
• “I’m going to make a cheese sandwich (in a moment).”

If you want to be very clearly future, you can also say:

• Je vais préparer un sandwich au fromage. = “I’m going to make a cheese sandwich.”

Why can’t I drop je and just say Prépare un sandwich au fromage?

If you drop je, the sentence changes meaning.

• Je prépare un sandwich au fromage.

  • Statement: “I am making a cheese sandwich.”

• Prépare un sandwich au fromage.

  • Imperative: a command to someone: “Make a cheese sandwich.”

In French, subject pronouns (je, tu, il, etc.) are almost always required; you can’t normally leave them out like in Spanish or Italian.

Is the word order fixed? Could I say Je prépare au fromage un sandwich?

French word order here is basically fixed: noun first, then its complement.

• Natural: Je prépare un sandwich au fromage.
• Je prépare au fromage un sandwich sounds awkward and unnatural in everyday French.

In general, for this kind of structure you’ll have:

• [verb] + [article + noun] + [à / de / avec + complement]
  → Je prépare un sandwich au fromage.

How do I make this sentence plural: “I’m making cheese sandwiches”?

You make both the article and the noun plural:

• Je prépare des sandwichs au fromage.
  or
• Je prépare des sandwiches au fromage.

Both sandwichs and sandwiches are accepted plurals in French; you’ll see both in real usage.
Des is the plural of un / une (“some” or just the plural “-s” in English).

How do you pronounce Je prépare un sandwich au fromage?

Rough guide with English-like hints (not IPA-perfect, but close enough for a learner):

• Je ≈ “zhuh”
• prépare ≈ “pray-par” (final e is very light, almost silent)
• un ≈ nasal “uhn” (like “uh” with the sound going through your nose)
• sandwich ≈ “san-dweesh” (in French the final ch is “sh”)
• au ≈ “oh”
• fromage ≈ “froh-mahzh” (final -ge like the “zh” in “measure”)

Spoken smoothly (with possible liaison between un and sandwich):
Je prépare un‿sandwich au fromage.

What’s the difference between je prépare un sandwich au fromage and je suis en train de préparer un sandwich au fromage?

Both can translate as “I am making a cheese sandwich,” but:

• Je prépare un sandwich au fromage.

  • Default, normal way to say it.
  • Can mean “I make” (habit) or “I’m making” (right now), depending on context.

• Je suis en train de préparer un sandwich au fromage.

  • Explicitly emphasizes that the action is happening right now, in progress.
  • Used if you really want to highlight “I’m in the middle of making it at this moment.”

In everyday conversation, Je prépare un sandwich au fromage is usually enough.