Questions & Answers about Marie rêve souvent de la mer.
In French, the verb rêver meaning to dream (about something) normally takes the preposition de:
- rêver de quelque chose = to dream about/of something
- Je rêve de vacances. = I dream of holidays.
- Elle rêve de la mer. = She dreams of the sea.
Rêver la mer would sound wrong in everyday modern French in this meaning.
Rêver sur la mer would mean to dream on the sea (for example, if you’re sleeping on a boat), which is different.
So to say dream about the sea, you pretty much have to say rêver de la mer.
Both exist, but they are not used in quite the same way.
rêver de
- Most common.
- Used for dreams during sleep and also for desires/longings.
- Je rêve de la mer. = I dream about the sea.
- Je rêve d’une grande maison. = I dream of a big house (I really want one).
rêver à
- Less common, more literary or a bit old‑fashioned in many uses.
- Often used for daydreaming about / thinking dreamily of something.
- Il rêvait à son avenir. = He was daydreaming about his future.
In this sentence, rêve souvent de la mer (dreams about the sea) is the natural, standard choice.
Rêve souvent à la mer would sound odd or very literary here.
In French, you generally need an article (le, la, les, un, une, des) in front of nouns, much more than in English.
- de la mer literally: of the sea / about the sea
- de mer without an article would usually have a more “adjectival” or generic feel, like in:
- fruits de mer = seafood (literally “fruits of sea”)
- sel de mer = sea salt
In your sentence, we are talking about the sea as a concrete thing she dreams about, so French prefers the definite article:
- Elle rêve de la mer. = She dreams about the sea.
Saying Elle rêve de mer would sound incomplete or wrong to a native speaker in this context.
Mer (sea) is feminine in French: la mer.
That’s why we say:
- la mer (not le mer)
- de la mer (not du mer)
- une mer (not un mer)
In this specific sentence, its gender is mainly visible in the article la:
- Marie rêve souvent de la mer.
If mer were masculine, it would be du mer, but that doesn’t exist.
In French, many adverbs of frequency (like souvent, often) are typically placed:
just after the conjugated verb:
- Marie rêve souvent de la mer. ✅
Other positions:
- Marie *souvent rêve de la mer.*
Sounds awkward/wrong in standard French. - Marie rêve de la mer souvent.
Possible, but less neutral; it can sound like you’re adding “often” as an afterthought, or giving it a bit of emphasis.
So the most natural, neutral word order is:
- Sujet + verbe + adverbe + complément
Marie rêve souvent de la mer.
French doesn’t have a separate -ing present tense like English.
The simple present rêve covers both:
- Marie dreams of the sea often.
- Marie is often dreaming of the sea.
So:
- Marie rêve souvent de la mer.
can mean either of those, depending on context.
If you really want to insist on a “right now / at this period” idea, you might add an expression:
- En ce moment, Marie rêve souvent de la mer.
= Right now / these days, Marie is often dreaming of the sea.
Rêver is a regular -ER verb. Present tense:
- je rêve = I dream
- tu rêves = you dream (singular, informal)
- il / elle / on rêve = he / she / one dreams
- nous rêvons = we dream
- vous rêvez = you dream (plural or formal)
- ils / elles rêvent = they dream
In your sentence:
- Marie rêve
“Marie” = elle, so we use the il/elle/on form rêve.
French has some mandatory contractions, and some that are mostly spoken/slang.
Mandatory ones:
- de + le → du
Je rêve du ciel. (de + le ciel) - de + les → des
Je rêve des vacances. (de + les vacances)
But with de + la, there is no standard written contraction:
- de + la → de la (no change)
Je rêve de la mer. ✅
A form like d’la may be heard in fast, informal speech, but it’s not standard written French. So the correct spelling is de la mer.
Approximate English hints (not perfect, but close):
rêve:
- /ʁɛv/
- The ê = like “eh” in “bed.”
- Final -e is pronounced here (one syllable: “rev” with a French R).
souvent:
- /suvɑ̃/
- sou = like “soo”
- -vent = nasal “vɑ̃” (somewhat like “vahng” without fully saying the g).
mer:
- /mɛʁ/
- Similar vowel to rêve: “mehrr” with a French R.
A common confusion:
- mer (sea) /mɛʁ/
- mère (mother) /mɛʁ/
- maire (mayor) /mɛʁ/
All three are pronounced the same in most accents; only the spelling and context tell you which word it is.
Pronunciation by parts:
- rêve: /ʁɛv/
- souvent: /suvɑ̃/
- de: /də/ or /d/ (very reduced)
- la: /la/
- mer: /mɛʁ/
Liaisons:
- Between rêve and souvent:
No liaison: rêve-souvent is just /ʁɛv suvɑ̃/ (no extra consonant). - Between souvent and de:
Normally no liaison either: /suvɑ̃ də/. - Between de and la:
No liaison: /də la/. - Between la and mer:
No liaison: /la mɛʁ/.
So you basically pronounce each word clearly, without adding linking consonants in this sentence.
Yes, you can say:
- Marie fait souvent des rêves de la mer.
This is more literally:
- Marie often has dreams of the sea.
Differences:
Marie rêve souvent de la mer.
- Simpler structure.
- Neutral, very common way to say she dreams about the sea (either at night or in a more figurative sense).
Marie fait souvent des rêves de la mer.
- Puts more emphasis on the dreams as “events” (individual dreams).
- Sounds more like you’re counting or describing several specific dreams she has.
Both are correct; the original sentence is just more direct and usual.