Breakdown of Un panneau pour les piétons indique clairement où traverser la rue.
Questions & Answers about Un panneau pour les piétons indique clairement où traverser la rue.
In French, when you talk about a whole category of people in general (pedestrians in general), you normally use the definite article: les.
- les piétons = pedestrians in general (all pedestrians, as a group)
- des piétons = some pedestrians (an unspecified number, but not the whole category)
- just piétons would be grammatically incomplete in this position in a normal sentence
So un panneau pour les piétons means a sign for pedestrians (in general), not just for some specific pedestrians standing there right now.
The subject of the sentence is un panneau (a sign), which is singular and masculine.
- Subject: un panneau
- Verb: indique
So the verb must be 3rd person singular: il indique → un panneau indique.
Even though les piétons is plural, it’s part of the prepositional phrase pour les piétons and does not control the verb. The verb always agrees with the grammatical subject, not with nouns in prepositional phrases.
Because panneau is a masculine noun in French.
- un panneau (masc.) = a sign / noticeboard
- le panneau = the sign
There is no logical reason you can guess from the ending here; you simply have to learn the gender with the noun: un panneau.
(There is a feminine word une pancarte, which also means a sign or placard, but it’s a different noun.)
Both can be translated as sign in English, but they’re used a bit differently:
- un panneau usually refers to an official, often permanent sign, especially:
- road signs: un panneau de signalisation
- large, rigid signs or boards
- une pancarte is more like a placard / signboard / protest sign:
- a hand‑held protest sign
- a small sign someone has put up (for sale sign, “no entry” sign, etc.)
In the context of pedestrians and crossing the street, un panneau is the normal word, because you’re talking about an official road/pedestrian sign.
- pour les piétons = for pedestrians, meant for their use or guidance
- aux piétons (à + les) = to the pedestrians, focusing on the direction of an action (giving something to them, speaking to them, etc.)
Here the idea is that the sign is intended for pedestrians, not that the sign is doing something to them. That’s why pour is the natural preposition.
You might see un message aux piétons = a message to pedestrians, but for a sign intended for them, pour les piétons is standard.
Not really in this context.
French does sometimes use a noun before another noun like an adjective (for example une carte bancaire, literally “bank card”), but panneau piéton is not idiomatic.
To express “a pedestrian sign” we usually say:
- un panneau pour les piétons
- un panneau destiné aux piétons (more formal)
- or specify the function: un passage pour piétons = a pedestrian crossing
So here, un panneau pour les piétons is the natural way to say “a sign for pedestrians.”
Un piéton means a pedestrian, literally someone who is moving on foot.
- masculine:
- un piéton (singular)
- des piétons (plural)
- feminine:
- une piétonne (singular)
- des piétonnes (plural)
In mixed groups, or when talking about pedestrians in general, French normally uses the masculine plural: les piétons.
French often uses an infinitive clause after a question word (like où, comment, quand) to express “where/how/when to do something”:
- où traverser la rue = where to cross the street
(similar to English “where to cross the street”)
If you said où les piétons traversent la rue, it would mean where pedestrians cross the street (a neutral description), not where to cross (an instruction or guidance).
So here the infinitive traverser matches the meaning: the sign tells people where to cross.
In this sentence, où is a relative / interrogative adverb meaning where:
- où traverser la rue = where to cross the street
The accent is important:
- ou (no accent) = or
- thé ou café ? = tea or coffee?
- où (accent) = where
- où traverser ? = where to cross?
So où traverser la rue must have the accent; otherwise the sentence would be nonsensical.
In French:
- traverser = to cross from one side to the other
- traverser la rue = to cross the street
- traverser la rivière = to cross the river
- passer is more general: to pass, to go by, to go past
- passer devant la maison = to go past the house
- le bus passe toutes les dix minutes = the bus comes / passes every 10 minutes
Since the idea here is explicitly crossing to the other side, traverser la rue is the correct choice.
la rue vs une rue
- la rue here means the street in a general, situational way – the one you are about to cross.
- French often uses the definite article in this kind of context:
- traverser la rue = cross the street (the one in front of you) Saying traverser une rue would sound more like “cross a street” (any random street).
rue vs route
- rue = a street in a town or city, inside built‑up areas
- route = a road, especially between towns, sometimes larger/faster roads For pedestrian crossings and urban signs, la rue is usually what you want.
Also note: rue is always feminine: la rue.
The general rule in French is that short, simple adverbs (especially those ending in ‑ment) usually come right after the conjugated verb:
- indique clairement = clearly indicates
- parle doucement = speaks softly
You could sometimes change the position for emphasis, but un panneau … indique clairement où traverser la rue is the most natural, neutral order. Putting clairement before the verb (clairement indique) is possible but more marked/stylistic.
Yes, there are a couple of points:
- les piétons: there is a liaison:
- pronounce the s of les as a z sound: [léz-pié-ton]
- panneau: the final -eau is pronounced [o], and the final x in the plural panneaux would be silent.
- traverser: the final -er is pronounced [é], like traversé in many accents: [travèr-sé].
- rue: pronounced [ry], with the French u sound (rounded lips, tongue forward).
So one natural pronunciation grouping is:
Un panneau / pour les piétons / indique clairement / où traverser la rue.