Marie garde le magazine de mode dans son sac.

Marie keeps the fashion magazine in her bag.

Breakdown of Marie garde le magazine de mode dans son sac.

• Marie: Marie
• dans: in
• le sac: the bag
• garder: to keep
• son: her
• le magazine de mode: the fashion magazine

Questions & Answers about Marie garde le magazine de mode dans son sac.

What exactly does garde mean here? Is it “keeps,” “has,” “carries,” or something else?

The verb garder in French is quite flexible. Its core idea is to keep / to hold on to / to look after.

In this sentence, Marie garde le magazine de mode dans son sac can be translated as:

• Marie keeps the fashion magazine in her bag.
• Marie is keeping the fashion magazine in her bag.
• Depending on context, it can even feel like she carries the fashion magazine in her bag (i.e. she habitually keeps it there).

Other common uses of garder:

• garder un secret – to keep a secret
• garder les enfants – to look after the children / babysit
• garder son calme – to keep one’s calm

So here, garde does not simply mean “has”; it specifically suggests that she is keeping/holding onto the magazine in her bag, not just that she owns it.

Why is the verb form garde and not garder, gardes, etc.?

Garde is the 3rd person singular present tense of garder.

• Infinitive: garder – to keep
• Je garde – I keep
• Tu gardes – you keep (informal singular)
• Il / Elle / On garde – he / she / one keeps
• Nous gardons – we keep
• Vous gardez – you keep (formal/plural)
• Ils / Elles gardent – they keep

Because the subject is Marie (she), French uses elle garde, so the correct form is garde.

French uses garde (simple present). In English I’d probably say “is keeping.” Is there a separate continuous tense in French?

French does not have a special continuous tense like English “is keeping / is reading / is doing”.

The simple present in French (garde) can correspond to both:

• She keeps (general, habitual)
• She is keeping (right now or in an ongoing situation)

So:

• Marie garde le magazine de mode dans son sac.
  can mean:
• Marie keeps the fashion magazine in her bag.
  or
• Marie is keeping the fashion magazine in her bag.

If you really need to emphasize “right now,” French can add expressions like en ce moment, en général, etc., but grammatically it’s the same present tense form.

Why is it le magazine de mode and not un magazine de mode?

The choice between le and un is about how specific the magazine is:

• le magazine de mode = the fashion magazine
  
  • Refers to a specific magazine that both speaker and listener can identify (for example, the one they were just talking about).
• un magazine de mode = a fashion magazine
  
  • Refers to any fashion magazine, not a particular one.

So:

• Marie garde le magazine de mode dans son sac.
  → We’re talking about a specific fashion magazine.
• Marie garde un magazine de mode dans son sac.
  → She has some fashion magazine in her bag, but we don’t know or don’t care which one.

How does magazine de mode work grammatically? Why is it “de mode” and not something like an adjective?

In French, a very common way to express “X magazine” (type of magazine) is:

[noun] + de + [noun]

So:

• magazine de mode = magazine of fashion → fashion magazine

This noun + de + noun pattern is used a lot:

• un livre de cuisine – a cookbook (a book of cooking)
• un cours de français – a French course (course of French)
• une émission de sport – a sports show (show about sport)

So de mode here doesn’t mean “of fashion” in a possessive sense; it’s more like “fashion-type magazine.”

Why is it de mode and not de la mode?

Both de mode and de la mode are grammatically possible, but they don’t mean quite the same thing:

• magazine de mode

  • General category: a fashion magazine (the type of magazine).
  • “Mode” is used in a broad, generic way.

• magazine de la mode

  • More literally: a magazine of the fashion, often implying the fashion world, the fashion industry, current trends.
  • Sounds a bit more specific and less like a standard label.

In everyday French, for the neutral idea of a fashion magazine, people normally say un magazine de mode.

Why is it son sac and not sa sac, since Marie is a woman?

In French, possessive adjectives (mon / ma / mes, ton / ta / tes, son / sa / ses) agree with the gender and number of the thing possessed, not with the owner.

• sac is masculine singular: un sac
  So you must use the masculine singular possessive:
• son sac = his bag / her bag (depending on context)

If it were a feminine noun:

• sa voiture – his/her car (because voiture is feminine)
• ses livres – his/her books (plural, regardless of gender)

So:

• Marie garde le magazine de mode dans son sac.
  Here son is masculine because sac is masculine, even though Marie is female.

Does son sac mean “his bag” or “her bag”? How do I know?

By itself, son sac is ambiguous; it can mean:

• his bag
• her bag

The possessive son / sa / ses does not carry gender information about the owner; only about the noun that follows.

You find out whose bag it is from the context (here, the subject is Marie, so it’s “her bag”):

• Marie garde le magazine de mode dans son sac.
  → her bag (Marie’s bag)

If the subject were Pierre:

• Pierre garde le magazine de mode dans son sac.
  → his bag (Pierre’s bag)

Could I say dans le sac instead of dans son sac?

You can say dans le sac, but it changes the meaning:

• dans son sac – in her bag (the bag that belongs to her)
• dans le sac – in the bag (a specific bag already known from context, not clearly linked as her personal possession)

Examples:

• Marie garde le magazine de mode dans son sac.
  → It’s in Marie’s bag.
• Marie garde le magazine de mode dans le sac sous la table.
  → It’s in the bag under the table, which might or might not be hers.

So son sac emphasizes possession; le sac just points to a particular bag.

Why is the preposition dans used? Could I use en or à instead?

For physical location inside something, French normally uses dans:

• dans son sac – in her bag
• dans la boîte – in the box
• dans la voiture – in the car

En is used differently; for example:

• en France – in France
• en classe – in class
• en voiture – by car (as a means of transport)

À generally expresses:

• location at a place: à la maison, à l’école
• indirect object: donner quelque chose à quelqu’un (give something to someone)

So here, because the magazine is physically inside the bag, dans is the natural and correct choice:
→ dans son sac, not en son sac or à son sac.

Can I change the word order, like putting dans son sac earlier in the sentence?

Yes, you can move dans son sac without changing the basic meaning, though some orders sound more natural in everyday speech:

1. Marie garde le magazine de mode dans son sac.
   – Neutral, most natural order.

2. Marie garde dans son sac le magazine de mode.
   – Emphasizes a bit more where she keeps it; still correct, a bit more formal or stylistic.

3. Dans son sac, Marie garde le magazine de mode.
   – Stylistic, used for emphasis on “in her bag”, or in written/literary style.

All are grammatically correct; the first is the most standard in conversation.

How would I replace le magazine de mode with a pronoun?

Because le magazine de mode is:

• singular
• masculine
• a direct object

you replace it with the direct object pronoun le (or l’ before a vowel sound).

So:

• Marie garde le magazine de mode dans son sac.
  becomes
• Marie le garde dans son sac. – Marie keeps it in her bag.

Some variations:

• Marie le garde toujours dans son sac. – She always keeps it in her bag.
• Elle le garde dans son sac. – She keeps it in her bag. (here elle = Marie)

Which letters are silent in this sentence, and how is it pronounced?

Approximate standard French pronunciation:

• Marie → /ma.ʁi/
  
  • Final -e is pronounced as part of the second syllable (ri), not silent.
• garde → /gaʁd/
  
  • Final -e is silent; the d is pronounced.
• le → /lə/ or /lə̹/ (weak “leuh” sound)
• magazine → /ma.ga.zin/
  
  • Final -e is not a separate sound; it helps spell the in sound /ɛ̃/ vs /in/ depending on accent, but typically pronounced /ma.ga.zin/ with a clear final “zin.”
• de → /də/ (weak “deuh”)
• mode → /mɔd/
  
  • Final -e is silent, d is pronounced.
• dans → /dɑ̃/
  
  • Final -s is silent.
• son → /sɔ̃/
• sac → /sak/
  
  • All letters are pronounced.

No obligatory liaison occurs between these particular words (for example, no liaison between mode and dans, because dans begins with a consonant).