Learn Hardcore French: Je parle à Paul dans le jardin.

Without à, the sentence Je parle Paul sounds like you’re saying something more like “I speak Paul” (as if Paul were a language). It’s ungrammatical in this context.

So:

parler à + person = to talk to someone
parler + language = to speak a language (no à)
- Je parle français. = I speak French.

What’s the difference between parler à Paul and parler avec Paul?

Both are possible, but they’re not quite the same:

Je parle à Paul.
Focus: the direction of speaking — you are speaking to Paul (he’s the person you address).
This can be one-way: you talk, he listens.
Je parle avec Paul.
Focus: the interaction — you’re having a conversation with Paul.
It suggests more of a two‑way exchange.

In everyday speech, both may be used quite freely, but:

If you want to insist on having a conversation with someone, avec sounds more mutual.
If you just want to say whom you’re talking to, à is the default.

Can Je parle mean both “I speak” and “I am speaking”?

Yes. French usually uses the simple present for both meanings:

Je parle à Paul.
= I speak to Paul (habitually)
OR I am speaking to Paul (right now)

Context tells you which meaning is intended.
French does have a progressive-like form (Je suis en train de parler à Paul = I am in the middle of speaking to Paul), but it’s used mainly to emphasize that the action is ongoing right now, not as the regular way to say I am speaking.

Why do we need the subject pronoun Je? Can we drop it like in Spanish or Italian?

In French, you normally cannot drop the subject pronoun:

Correct: Je parle à Paul.
Incorrect: Parle à Paul. (unless it’s a command: “Talk to Paul!”)

French verb endings are generally not clear enough by themselves to show who is doing the action, so French requires subject pronouns in ordinary statements.

Compare:

Spanish: Hablo con Pablo. (subject can be dropped)
French: Je parle à Paul. (subject cannot be dropped)

How is Je parle conjugated for other people (you, he, we, etc.)?

Parler is a regular -ER verb. In the present tense:

je parle – I speak / I am speaking
tu parles – you speak (informal singular)
il/elle/on parle – he/she/one speaks
nous parlons – we speak
vous parlez – you speak (formal or plural)
ils/elles parlent – they speak

Note the pronunciation:

parle, parles, parlent are all pronounced the same: /paʁl/.
parlons: /paʁlɔ̃/
parlez: /paʁle/

Why is it dans le jardin and not just dans jardin?

In French, common nouns almost always need an article (definite, indefinite, or partitive). You can’t usually leave the article out like English sometimes does.

dans le jardin = in the garden (a specific garden we have in mind)
dans un jardin = in a garden (any garden, not specified)

Dans jardin is incorrect; the noun jardin needs an article (le, un, ce, mon, etc.).

What’s the difference between dans le jardin and au jardin?

Both can be translated as “in the garden” or “at the garden”, but there are nuances:

dans le jardin
Literal: inside the garden — physically inside that garden space.
Used very commonly in everyday speech.
au jardin (à + le jardin)
More like at the garden as a place; sometimes feels a bit more literary, regional, or set‑phrase‑like.
You might also hear au jardin public = at the public garden/park.

In most everyday contexts, dans le jardin is the neutral, most common choice.

Could we ever say Je parle au Paul?

No. With proper names like Paul, you normally do not use an article in standard modern French:

Correct: Je parle à Paul.
Incorrect: Je parle au Paul.

You’ll see articles with names in special contexts (e.g., le Paul de la compta, familiar speech referring to “that Paul from accounting”), but as a general rule:

à + first name → à Paul, à Marie, à Sophie, etc.

Can I replace à Paul with a pronoun, like lui?

Yes. Paul here is an indirect object (you speak to him). The indirect object pronoun is lui:

Je parle à Paul. → Je lui parle. = I’m talking to him.

Word order with pronouns:

The pronoun goes before the verb: Je lui parle, not Je parle lui.

Similarly:

Je parle à Marie. → Je lui parle. (for to her)
Je parle à mes amis. → Je leur parle. (for to them)

Is the word order Je parle à Paul dans le jardin fixed, or can it change?

The normal, neutral order is:

[Subject] [Verb] [Indirect object] [Place]
→ Je parle à Paul dans le jardin.

You can sometimes move things around for emphasis, but it becomes less neutral:

Je parle dans le jardin à Paul.
Possible, but sounds a bit awkward and can put more emphasis on the place.
Dans le jardin, je parle à Paul.
Quite natural if you want to emphasize “In the garden, I talk to Paul (as opposed to elsewhere)”.

For beginners, it’s best to keep the neutral order: > Je parle à Paul dans le jardin.

How do you pronounce this whole sentence naturally?

Approximate IPA:
Je parle à Paul dans le jardin. → /ʒə paʁl a pɔl dɑ̃ lə ʒaʁdɛ̃/

Key points:

Je → /ʒə/ (like “zhuh”)
parle → /paʁl/ (final -e is silent; French r is guttural in the throat)
à → /a/ (open a sound)
Paul → /pɔl/ (like “poll” but with a more open o)
dans → /dɑ̃/ (nasal vowel: the n isn’t fully pronounced)
le → /lə/
jardin → /ʒaʁdɛ̃/ (nasal sound on the in)

The words are linked smoothly in speech:

parle à flows together: /paʁl‿a/ (no extra pause)
dans le often sounds like /dɑ̃ lə/ said quickly.

Why is it Je parle and not J’parle? Don’t we usually contract je?

Je only contracts to J’ before a vowel sound or mute h:

J’aime, J’adore, J’écoute, J’habite.

Here, parle starts with a consonant sound /p/, so there is no elision:

Je parle (not J’parle in standard written French).

You might hear something like “j’parle” in very informal spoken French, but it’s not standard and you shouldn’t write it that way in normal French.

Why is Paul capitalized but jardin is not?

In French, like in English:

Proper nouns (names of people, cities, etc.) are capitalized: Paul.
Common nouns are not, unless they begin a sentence: jardin.

So:

Je parle à Paul dans le jardin.
- Paul: capital P (a person’s name).
- jardin: lower-case j (a common noun: a garden).