Ma mère aime la musique.

My mother likes music.

Breakdown of Ma mère aime la musique.

• aimer: to like
• ma: my
• la musique: the music
• la mère: the mother

Questions & Answers about Ma mère aime la musique.

Why is it ma mère and not mon mère?

In French, the possessive adjective (mon, ma, mes) agrees with the gender and number of the noun, not with the speaker.

• mère is a feminine singular noun.
• The feminine singular form of my is ma.
• So we must say ma mère (my mother), not mon mère.

Examples:

• mon père (my father) – père is masculine
• ma sœur (my sister) – sœur is feminine
• mes parents (my parents) – parents is plural

When would I say maman instead of mère?

maman is more informal and affectionate, like “mom / mum / mommy”, while mère is more neutral or formal, like “mother”.

• Ma mère aime la musique. = My mother likes music. (neutral)
• Ma maman aime la musique. = My mom likes music. (more childlike / affectionate)

Adults do say maman when speaking about or to their own mother, but in writing (especially formal writing), mère is more common.

How do you pronounce mère and what does the accent è change?

mère is pronounced roughly like “mehr” in English, but with a French r at the end.

• The è (accent grave) makes an open “eh” sound /ɛ/, like in “bed”.
• Without an accent, mere would be pronounced differently (and it’s not a French word in this form).
• Compare:
  • mère /mɛʁ/ – mother
  • mer /mɛʁ/ – sea (same sound, different spelling and meaning)
  • mére doesn’t exist; the correct spelling is mère.

So the accent is important for correct spelling and meaning, even if in this case the sound is the same as mer.

What verb is aime, and how is it conjugated?

aime is the third person singular form of the verb aimer (to like / to love) in the present tense.

Present tense of aimer:

• j’aime – I like / love
• tu aimes – you like / love (informal singular)
• il / elle / on aime – he / she / one likes / loves
• nous aimons – we like / love
• vous aimez – you like / love (formal or plural)
• ils / elles aiment – they like / love

In Ma mère aime la musique, the subject is ma mère (she), so we use elle aime → ma mère aime.

Why do we say aime la musique and not just aime musique, like in English?

In French, you usually cannot drop the article before a noun in this kind of sentence.

When talking about likes and dislikes in a general sense, French uses the definite article (le, la, les) before the noun:

• J’aime la musique. – I like music.
• Il aime le chocolat. – He likes chocolate.
• Elle adore les chats. – She loves cats.

So aime musique is incorrect; it must be aime la musique.

Why is it la musique and not de la musique?

Both exist, but they don’t mean the same thing.

• aimer + le / la / les + noun = liking something in general

  • Ma mère aime la musique. – My mother likes music (music as a whole).

• de la / du / des + noun often means some (amount of) + noun, especially after verbs like écouter, manger, boire, faire etc.

  • Ma mère écoute de la musique. – My mother listens to (some) music.
  • Il y a de la musique. – There is some music.

So:

• aime la musique = likes music as a thing, in general
• écoute de la musique = listens to some music (an unspecified amount)

Is musique feminine or masculine, and how do I know?

musique is feminine, so we say la musique, not le musique.

There is no perfect rule to know the gender of every noun, but there are patterns. Many nouns that end in -ique are feminine, for example:

• la politique – politics
• la critique – critique / review
• la boutique – shop

There are exceptions, so the most reliable method is to learn the gender with the noun:

• la musique (feminine)
• le problème (masculine), etc.

Can I change the word order, like Ma mère la musique aime?

No. In simple statements, French uses the same basic word order as English: Subject – Verb – Object.

• Ma mère aime la musique.
  
  • Subject: Ma mère
  • Verb: aime
  • Object: la musique

You cannot move la musique in front of aime like that.
Sentences such as Ma mère la musique aime are incorrect in French.

Do I need to capitalize mère or ma like I sometimes do with “Mother” in English?

No. In French:

• You capitalize the first word of the sentence, so Ma is capitalized here only because it’s at the start.
• mère is not capitalized in normal use.

Examples:

• Ma mère aime la musique. – My mother likes music.
• J’ai parlé à ma mère. – I spoke to my mother.

Even when speaking directly to your mother, you usually write maman or mère without a capital, except with certain stylistic or religious uses (e.g. Sainte Mère), which are special cases.

Does aimer mean “like” or “love” here?

aimer can mean to like or to love, depending on context:

• With things (music, chocolate, films), it’s often translated as like:
  • Ma mère aime la musique. – My mother likes music.
• With people, aimer usually means love:
  • J’aime ma mère. – I love my mother.

You can add adverbs for nuance:

• aimer bien = to like (quite) a lot, to be fond of
• adorer = to really love / adore

So Ma mère aime la musique. is usually understood as “My mother likes music” rather than “is in love with music.”

Is there any special linking (liaison) when you say Ma mère aime out loud?

Yes, there is usually a liaison between mère and aime in spoken French.

• Written: Ma mère aime la musique.
• Spoken: the r sound links to the following vowel:
  • [ma mɛʁ‿ɛm la myzik]

So it sounds a bit like “ma mèrem la musique”, with the r of mère pronounced before aime. This liaison is natural and expected in careful speech.

If I continue talking, can I replace ma mère with elle?

Yes. Once it’s clear you’re talking about your mother, you can use the subject pronoun elle:

• Ma mère aime la musique. Elle en écoute tous les jours.
  – My mother likes music. She listens to it every day.

Here:

• Ma mère (my mother) = elle (she).

How could I be more specific, like “My mother likes classical music”?

You can add a type of music after la musique, usually with an adjective or a specific noun:

• Ma mère aime la musique classique. – My mother likes classical music.
• Ma mère aime la musique rock. – My mother likes rock music.
• Ma mère aime la musique française. – My mother likes French music.

Notice that in French the adjective usually comes after the noun:

• la musique classique, literally “the music classical”.