Dans cette faculté, une professeure de philosophie parle de l’amour et du bonheur.

In this faculty, a philosophy professor talks about love and happiness.

Breakdown of Dans cette faculté, une professeure de philosophie parle de l’amour et du bonheur.

• et: and
• dans: in
• de: of
• cette: this
• parler de: to talk about
• l'amour: the love
• la philosophie: the philosophy
• la faculté: the faculty
• la professeure: the professor
• le bonheur: the happiness

Questions & Answers about Dans cette faculté, une professeure de philosophie parle de l’amour et du bonheur.

What exactly does faculté mean here? Does it mean faculty, department, or university?

In this sentence, faculté refers to a faculty or school within a university, for example:

• la faculté de philosophie – the philosophy faculty/school
• la faculté de médecine – the medical school

It usually does not mean the teaching staff (as in the faculty voted in English). For that sense, French would more likely use something like le corps professoral.

So dans cette faculté is best understood as in this faculty (this school within the university), not in this group of professors.

Why is it dans cette faculté and not à cette faculté?

Both dans and à can be used with places, but they don’t feel identical:

• dans cette faculté
  – literally in this faculty, focusing on being inside or within that institution/structure (either physically or as part of it).

• à la faculté (more usual than à cette faculté)
  – more like at university / at the faculty in a general way.

Here, dans cette faculté highlights what is happening within the environment of that specific faculty, almost like saying within this faculty rather than just at it. It sounds perfectly natural.

Why is it une professeure and not un professeur, even though the English is a professor?

Traditionally, professeur was grammatically masculine for everyone, even women:

• Madame X est professeur de philosophie.

Modern usage, especially in France and in more inclusive contexts, often uses a feminine form for female professors:

• une professeure
• sometimes also une professeur (without -e) is seen, but professeure is now common and recommended in many style guides.

So:

• une professeure de philosophie = a female philosophy professor
• un professeur de philosophie = a (male or generic) philosophy professor

English doesn’t change the noun for gender (professor is neutral), but French often does.

Why is there an article in une professeure de philosophie, when in French you often drop the article before professions (like elle est professeure)?

French behaves differently depending on the structure:

1. After the verb être (to be), you usually drop the article:

   • Elle est professeure de philosophie. – She is a philosophy professor.

2. But when the profession is the subject or object of the sentence (like here), you keep the article:

   • Une professeure de philosophie parle… – A philosophy professor is speaking…
   • Je vois un médecin. – I see a doctor.

So we use une professeure de philosophie because it is the subject of the sentence, not a predicate after être.

Why is it professeure de philosophie and not something like professeure en philosophie?

With professions and their specialties, French typically uses de:

• professeure de philosophie – professor of philosophy
• professeur de mathématiques – math teacher/professor
• professeure de français – French teacher

Using en here (professeure en philosophie) would sound odd or at best very informal and unusual. De is the normal preposition to show what you teach or your subject area.

Why do we say parle de l’amour and not parle sur l’amour, since English says talk about love?

With the verb parler plus a topic, French almost always uses de:

• parler de quelque chose – to talk/speak about something
  
  • Elle parle de l’amour. – She talks about love.

Parler sur is very limited and usually means something like to speak on top of / over (literally, e.g. talk over the music), or it can sound incorrect/odd when used like English talk on/about a subject.

So for about a topic, you should reliably use:

• parler de + [topic]

Why is it de l’amour and du bonheur, and not de le amour or de le bonheur?

Two things are happening:

1. Elision before a vowel:

   • le amour → l’amour
   • After de: de le amour → de l’amour

   French avoids de le in front of a vowel sound (amour starts with a vowel), so it becomes de l’.

2. Contraction de le → du before a consonant:

   • de + le bonheur → du bonheur

So:

• de l’amour = de + le amour (after elision)
• du bonheur = de + le bonheur (contracted)

Grammatically:

• de + le → du (before consonant)
• de + l’ stays de l’ (before vowel)

Why are l’amour and le bonheur used with definite articles, even though in English we just say love and happiness without the?

French often uses the definite article (le / la / l’) for general or abstract concepts where English does not:

• l’amour – (the) love → love in general
• le bonheur – (the) happiness → happiness in general

So parle de l’amour et du bonheur means talks about love and happiness as general ideas, not specific instances. The use of the definite article is normal and even required in French in this kind of generic, abstract meaning.

Why is it cette faculté and not ce faculté?

Faculté is a feminine noun in French:

• une faculté

Demonstrative adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun:

• ce for masculine singular: ce professeur
• cette for feminine singular: cette faculté
• ces for all plurals: ces professeurs, ces facultés

So we say cette faculté because faculté is feminine singular.

Could we change the word order and say Une professeure de philosophie parle de l’amour et du bonheur dans cette faculté?

Yes, that is also correct.

Both are fine:

• Dans cette faculté, une professeure de philosophie parle de l’amour et du bonheur.
  – Emphasis slightly on where this happens (in this faculty).

• Une professeure de philosophie parle de l’amour et du bonheur dans cette faculté.
  – Neutral order: introduces the person first, then adds where at the end.

French often moves location/time phrases like dans cette faculté, ce matin, ici, etc. to the beginning of the sentence to set the scene, just as English can do (e.g. At this university, a professor…).

In everyday spoken French, would people still say une professeure de philosophie and dans cette faculté, or is there a more informal version?

In informal spoken French, people might say:

• une prof de philo instead of une professeure de philosophie
  
  • prof is the common short form of professeur / professeure
  • philo is a common short form of philosophie

So in casual speech:

• Dans cette fac, une prof de philo parle de l’amour et du bonheur.

Here fac is a colloquial shortening of faculté. The original sentence is standard and neutral; these shorter forms are familiar/informal but very common in everyday conversation.