Paul cherche à rester calme pendant le match.

Paul tries to stay calm during the game.

Breakdown of Paul cherche à rester calme pendant le match.

• Paul: Paul
• pendant: during
• rester: to stay
• calme: calm
• le match: the game
• chercher à: to try to

Questions & Answers about Paul cherche à rester calme pendant le match.

Why do we use cherche à here? I thought chercher means “to look for.”

Chercher normally does mean “to look for”:

• Paul cherche ses clés. = “Paul is looking for his keys.”

But when chercher is followed by à + infinitive, it often means “to try to / to seek to”:

• Paul cherche à rester calme. = “Paul is trying to stay calm.”
• Il cherche à comprendre. = “He is trying to understand.”

So:

• chercher + COD (direct object) → “to look for something”
• chercher à + infinitive → “to try to / to seek to do something”

Is there a difference between Paul cherche à rester calme and Paul essaie de rester calme?

They are very close in meaning and often interchangeable.

• Paul cherche à rester calme can sound slightly more formal or a bit more “effortful” or “deliberate,” as if he’s making a conscious effort or has that as a goal.
• Paul essaie de rester calme is the most common, neutral way to say “Paul is trying to stay calm” in everyday speech.

In most contexts, you can use either without changing the basic meaning, but essaie de is more frequent in spoken French.

Could we ever say Paul cherche de rester calme?

No. With an infinitive, the correct structure is chercher à + infinitive, never chercher de.

Correct:

• Paul cherche à rester calme.

Incorrect:

• ✗ Paul cherche de rester calme.

Why is it rester calme and not être calme?

Rester means “to stay / to remain,” so rester calme means “to stay calm,” which matches the idea of making an effort not to lose your calm during the match.

• Paul veut être calme. = Paul wants to be calm (state, no focus on duration or continuity).
• Paul cherche à rester calme. = Paul is trying to stay calm (keep that state over time despite possible stress).

So rester is used to emphasize remaining in a state, not just being in it.

Does calme change form if the subject is feminine or plural?

In this sentence, calme is an adjective that agrees with the subject.

• Masculine singular: Paul reste calme.
• Feminine singular: Marie reste calme.
• Masculine plural: Paul et Marc restent calmes.
• Feminine plural: Marie et Julie restent calmes.
• Mixed plural: Paul et Marie restent calmes.

Only the plural form adds an s in writing (calmes). In practice, the final s is usually silent, so calme and calmes are pronounced the same in most contexts.

Can I say Paul cherche à se calmer instead? Does it mean the same thing?

It’s close, but not exactly the same.

• chercher à rester calme = to try to stay calm, to avoid getting worked up in the first place.
• chercher à se calmer = to try to calm down once he is already upset, agitated, or stressed.

So:

• Before emotions rise: Paul cherche à rester calme.
• After he’s already upset: Paul cherche à se calmer.

Why do we use pendant le match and not something like au match?

Because the idea is “during the match,” not “at the match.”

• pendant le match = during the match (time period)
• au match = at the match (location)

Your sentence focuses on the time span when he’s trying to stay calm, so pendant (“during”) is the natural choice:

• Paul cherche à rester calme pendant le match.
  → He tries to stay calm during the match.

Could I say durant le match or lors du match instead of pendant le match?

Yes, both are possible, with slightly different tones:

• durant le match – Very similar to pendant le match, but a bit more formal or literary in feel.
• lors du match – Also more formal; often used in written French, news reports, or when talking about events:
  • Il s’est blessé lors du match. = He got injured during the match.

In everyday spoken French, pendant le match is the most neutral and common.

Why do we say le match and not just pendant match?

In French, countable nouns almost always need an article (definite, indefinite, or partitive). You can’t usually “drop” the article like in English.

So you must say:

• pendant le match (during the match)
• pendant un match (during a match / any match)

But not:

• ✗ pendant match

Here, le match suggests a specific match that the speaker and listener know about (for example, tonight’s game).

Can I move pendant le match to the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. Both word orders are correct:

• Paul cherche à rester calme pendant le match.
• Pendant le match, Paul cherche à rester calme.

Putting Pendant le match first simply emphasizes the time context a bit more. In writing, you normally add a comma after it, as in the second example.

Would it be correct to say Paul cherchera à rester calme pendant le match?

Yes, that’s grammatically correct. It uses the simple future:

• Paul cherchera à rester calme pendant le match.
  → “Paul will try to stay calm during the match.”

The original present tense can mean:

• Something habitual: “He (generally) tries to stay calm during matches,” or
• A near-future plan or scheduled event (present used with future meaning in context).

The future tense cherchera explicitly points to a future situation.

Can I omit the à and say Paul cherche rester calme?

No. After chercher in this “try to” sense, French requires à before the infinitive:

• Correct: Paul cherche à rester calme.
• Incorrect: ✗ Paul cherche rester calme.

Think of chercher à as a fixed verb pattern that you need to keep together.

How do you pronounce cherche à and pendant le match? Is there any liaison?

Approximate pronunciations (in IPA and in simple English-style hints):

• cherche à

  • IPA: [ʃɛʁʃ a]
  • Roughly: “share-sh ah”
  • There is no added consonant between cherche and à; you just link them smoothly.

• pendant le match

  • IPA: [pɑ̃dɑ̃ lə matʃ]
  • Roughly: “pahn-dahn luh match”
  • pendant has nasal vowels [ɑ̃] (no clear final “n” sound).
  • match ends with a “tch” sound, like English match.
  • No obligatory liaison between pendant and le here; you just say pendant then le clearly.