Breakdown of Nous mangeons des fraises au bord de la mer.
Questions & Answers about Nous mangeons des fraises au bord de la mer.
In French, des is the normal plural form of the indefinite article un/une and usually corresponds to English “some” or nothing at all:
- des fraises ≈ “(some) strawberries”
Use des when you are talking about strawberries in a non-specific, general way.
Use les fraises when you mean specific strawberries that both speakers know about, or strawberries in general as a whole category:
- Les fraises sont rouges. = Strawberries are red (strawberries as a category).
- Où sont les fraises ? = Where are the strawberries? (the ones we know about).
In the original sentence, we’re just mentioning that we are eating strawberries, not any particular known batch, so des is appropriate.
In the affirmative, with a normal verb like manger, you use des for an unspecified plural:
- Nous mangeons des fraises. = We are eating strawberries.
The plural de (without s) usually appears:
After a negative:
- Nous ne mangeons pas de fraises. = We don’t eat strawberries.
After expressions of quantity:
- beaucoup de fraises (a lot of strawberries)
- un kilo de fraises (a kilo of strawberries)
So in a simple positive sentence without a quantity word, des fraises is the correct form.
Literally:
- au = at/to the
- bord = edge, border, side
- de la mer = of the sea
So au bord de la mer literally means “at the edge of the sea”.
In practice, it’s an idiomatic way to say “by the sea,” “at the seaside,” “on the seashore.” It can refer to being on the beach, or near the sea, not necessarily right at the water’s edge.
Au is the contraction of à + le:
- à + le = au
- à + la = à la
- à + l’ = à l’
- à + les = aux
Since bord is masculine singular (le bord), à le bord must contract to au bord. Writing à le bord is incorrect in standard French.
The noun mer (sea) is feminine, so its definite article is la:
- la mer = the sea
The preposition de only contracts with le and les:
- de + le = du
- de + les = des
But with la and l’, there is no contraction:
- de + la = de la (feminine singular)
- de + l’ = de l’ (before a vowel sound)
So you must say de la mer, not du mer.
They are close in meaning but not identical:
- au bord de la mer: very specific, “at the edge of the sea / at the seaside.” Strongly suggests the seashore/beach area.
- près de la mer: “near the sea” in a more general sense. You could be in a town a short distance from the sea, not necessarily right on the shore.
- à côté de la mer: literally “next to the sea.” Often similar to près de la mer, but can sound a bit more spatial/direct, like right beside it.
For the typical idea of being at the seaside/beach, au bord de la mer is the most natural and idiomatic.
The subject is nous (we), so the verb manger must be conjugated in the present tense, 1st person plural:
- je mange
- tu manges
- il/elle/on mange
- nous mangeons
- vous mangez
- ils/elles mangent
So with nous, the correct form is nous mangeons.
Note the -e- before -ons: it is kept to preserve the soft “g” sound /ʒ/ (like in “mirage”). Without the e, it would be a hard “g” sound /g/.
French doesn’t normally distinguish between simple present and present continuous the way English does. The present tense covers both:
- Nous mangeons des fraises.
- can mean “We eat strawberries” (habitually).
- or “We are eating strawberries” (right now).
Context usually makes the meaning clear. If you really need to emphasize that it’s happening right now, you can say:
- Nous sommes en train de manger des fraises. = We are (in the middle of) eating strawberries.
Yes, you can say:
- On mange des fraises au bord de la mer.
In everyday spoken French, on is extremely common and often used instead of nous to mean “we”.
Difference in feel:
- nous mangeons: more formal, careful, or written style.
- on mange: more informal, conversational, very typical in speech.
Both are grammatically correct; choice depends on the level of formality and the style you want.
Approximate pronunciation (in IPA):
[nu mɑ̃ʒɔ̃ de fʁɛz]
Key points:
- nous: [nu]; final -s is silent.
- mangeons: [mɑ̃ʒɔ̃]; nasal vowel [ɑ̃] in man-, then [ʒɔ̃].
- des: [de]; s is silent.
- fraises: [fʁɛz]; final -s is pronounced [z] here.
Liaison:
- Between nous and mangeons: often no liaison in casual speech. You will usually hear [nu mɑ̃ʒɔ̃], not [nuz mɑ̃ʒɔ̃].
- Between des and fraises: there is normally a liaison: [de‿fʁɛz], but the z sound actually comes from the -s in fraises, not from des. They blend smoothly.
Fraise is feminine:
- singular: une fraise
- plural: des fraises
In des fraises, the article des is the same for masculine and feminine plural, so you don’t see the gender directly.
But gender matters for:
- adjectives:
- une fraise rouge (fem. sg.)
- des fraises rouges (fem. pl.)
- pronouns:
- Je les mange. (I’m eating them — referring to the strawberries.)
So when you learn the word, it’s best to remember it as une fraise (feminine).
No, that word order sounds unnatural in standard French.
The usual structure is:
- Subject
- Verb
- Direct object
- Other complements (time, place, manner, etc.)
So:
- Nous mangeons des fraises au bord de la mer.
= Subject (nous) + Verb (mangeons) + Object (des fraises) + Place (au bord de la mer).
Placing au bord de la mer between nous and mangeons would be strange and marked. The original order is the normal one.
No, par la mer doesn’t mean the same thing:
- par la mer usually means “by sea” in the sense of transportation or route:
- Nous voyageons par la mer. = We are traveling by sea.
To express location “by/at the sea,” use:
- au bord de la mer (most idiomatic for “at the seaside”)
- or près de la mer / à côté de la mer depending on the nuance.
So in your sentence, au bord de la mer is the natural expression.