Je rêve de vivre près de l'océan.

I dream of living near the ocean.

Breakdown of Je rêve de vivre près de l'océan.

• je: I
• près de: near
• de: of
• vivre: to live
• l'océan: the ocean
• rêver: to dream

Questions & Answers about Je rêve de vivre près de l'océan.

Why do we say je rêve de vivre instead of je rêve vivre?

In French, the verb rêver needs the preposition de when it is followed by another verb in the infinitive.

• rêver de + infinitive = to dream of doing something
  
  • Je rêve de vivre près de l’océan. = I dream of living near the ocean.

Saying je rêve vivre is ungrammatical in French. The de cannot be dropped.

What is the difference between rêver de and rêver à?

Both exist but they’re used differently:

• rêver de + infinitive / noun = to dream of, to long for

  • Je rêve de vivre près de l’océan. (a wish/aspiration)
  • Je rêve de vacances. (I dream of vacation.)

• rêver à + noun = to think dreamily about, to daydream about

  • Je rêve à mon avenir. (I daydream/think about my future.)

So in your sentence (a wish about an action), only rêver de vivre is correct.

Why is it vivre and not habiter here?

Both can relate to living, but they’re not used the same way:

• vivre = to live (in a broad, general sense: to be alive, to have a life somewhere)

  • Je rêve de vivre près de l’océan. = I dream of having my life near the ocean.

• habiter = to live/reside in a specific place (an address, town, region)

  • J’habite à Paris. = I live in Paris.
  • Je voudrais habiter près de l’océan.

In this sentence, vivre sounds more like an overall lifestyle choice (“to live my life near the ocean”), which is why it’s very natural here. Je rêve d’habiter près de l’océan is possible, but it emphasizes “to reside” there a bit more literally.

Why do we say près de l’océan? What is the role of de here?

The expression is près de = near / close to. The de belongs to the preposition:

• près de + noun
  
  • près de la gare = near the station
  • près de l’océan = near the ocean

So de is required after près. You can’t say près l’océan; it must be près de l’océan.

Why is it de l’océan and not du océan or something else?

You have:

• preposition de
• definite article le for l’océan (masculine singular noun)

Normally: de + le = du (e.g. près du parc = near the park).

But with a vowel sound at the beginning of the noun, French uses l’ instead of le and does not form du:

• de + le océan → de l’océan
• (not du océan, which would be wrong)

So océan is masculine, but because it begins with a vowel sound, you get de l’océan.

Can I say proche de l’océan or à côté de l’océan instead of près de l’océan?

Yes, but there are small nuances:

• près de l’océan = near the ocean (very common and neutral)
• proche de l’océan = close to the ocean (often a bit more formal/literary or used as an adjective: une maison proche de l’océan)
• à côté de l’océan = next to / right by the ocean (usually suggests very close proximity)

They all express physical closeness, but près de is the most typical and idiomatic in this sort of sentence.

Could I say Je voudrais vivre près de l’océan instead of Je rêve de vivre près de l’océan?

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly:

• Je rêve de vivre près de l’océan.
  Emphasizes a dream, a fantasy, something you often imagine.

• Je voudrais vivre près de l’océan.
  More practical or concrete: “I would like to live near the ocean.”

Both are correct; rêver de gives a more emotional, dreamy tone.

Is there any agreement needed with océan in this sentence?

No agreement is needed here:

• océan is masculine singular.
• It is introduced by l’ (short for le).
• There are no adjectives describing océan in this sentence, so nothing needs to agree with it.

You just say: près de l’océan.

Could I say Je rêve que je vive près de l’océan?

That sounds unnatural in French.

• French normally uses rêver de + infinitive to express “I dream of doing something”:

  • Je rêve de vivre près de l’océan.

• rêver que + subject + verb (subjunctive) exists, but is used differently and often for actual sleep dreams:

  • J’ai rêvé que je vivais près de l’océan. = I dreamed (last night) that I lived near the ocean.

In your sentence (a wish, not a sleep dream), the idiomatic form is Je rêve de vivre…, not Je rêve que je vive….

Is the tense je rêve here about real dreams at night or about a wish?

By default, Je rêve de + infinitive expresses a wish, a longing, something you really want:

• Je rêve de vivre près de l’océan. = “I dream of living near the ocean” (as an aspiration).

If you want to talk about a dream while sleeping, you usually add context:

• Cette nuit, j’ai rêvé que je vivais près de l’océan.
  (“Last night I dreamed that I lived near the ocean.”)

How should I pronounce rêve, vivre, and près?

Approximate guidelines (in English terms):

• rêve: like rev, but with a more open ɛ sound (like bed), and a short soft v at the end.
• vivre: roughly vee-vruh:
  • vi- like vee
  • -vre: the r is uvular (in the throat), the final e is almost silent; you basically end on an r sound.
• près: like preh:
  • open ɛ (like bed), final s is silent.

In Je rêve de vivre près de l’océan, there is usually no liaison between rêve and de; you pronounce each word separately.