Learn Hardcore French: Un guide souriant décrit le circuit qui passe par tous les lieux importants du village. - A smiling guide describes the tour that goes past all the important places in the village.

Traditionally, un guide was used for both men and women, but une guide is increasingly used when you want to emphasize that the guide is a woman. The sentence is neutral or masculine-default: it doesn’t tell us whether the guide is a man or a woman.

What exactly is souriant here? Why not sourire or qui sourit?

Souriant is the present participle of sourire (to smile), used as an adjective:

sourire = to smile (verb infinitive)
il sourit = he smiles (present tense)
souriant = smiling (adjective / participle)

In the sentence:

un guide souriant = a smiling guide

You could also say:

un guide qui sourit = a guide who is smiling

Both are correct, but un guide souriant is more compact and feels more like a fixed description or characteristic, while un guide qui sourit focuses a bit more on the current action.

Why is it un guide souriant and not un souriant guide? Can I put souriant before the noun?

Normally, most descriptive adjectives go after the noun in French:

un guide souriant (natural)
un livre intéressant
une ville magnifique

You can sometimes put certain adjectives before the noun for stylistic or poetic effect, but un souriant guide would sound unusual or literary, and not neutral, everyday French.

So the standard, natural order is:

un guide souriant = a smiling guide

What tense is décrit in décrit le circuit? Why not a past tense like a décrit?

Décrit here is the present tense, 3rd person singular of décrire (to describe):

il/elle décrit = he/she describes

So:

Un guide souriant décrit le circuit
= A smiling guide describes the route/tour

This is a simple present describing something that is happening now, regularly, or as part of a narrative.

If you wanted to express a completed past action, you’d use the passé composé:

Un guide souriant a décrit le circuit
= A smiling guide (has) described the route (already).

Why is it le circuit and not un circuit? What does the definite article do here?

Le is the definite article (the), while un is indefinite (a).

un circuit = a route/tour (one of many, not specified)
le circuit = the (specific) route/tour already known from context

In the sentence, le circuit suggests we are talking about a particular tour whose existence is known: maybe it’s the official village tour, or it’s been mentioned earlier in the conversation/text.

So:

Un guide souriant décrit le circuit…
A smiling guide describes the tour (we know which one).

Does circuit mean the same as circuit in English? What does it mean in French here?

Circuit is a partial false friend. In French it can mean:

A route or itinerary, especially for tourism:
- un circuit touristique = a sightseeing tour / tour route
An electrical circuit:
- un circuit électrique
A race track:
- un circuit de course

In this sentence, with décrit le circuit… du village, it clearly means:

the tour / itinerary / route that goes around the important places in the village.

So you should think: the tour/route rather than the English “circuit” in the technical sense.

Why is it qui passe par and not something like qui va par or just qui passe?

Qui passe par literally means “which passes through / which goes by”.

passer par = to go through / to go via / to pass by (a place)

Examples:

Le bus passe par la gare. = The bus goes via the station.
La route passe par la forêt. = The road goes through the forest.

Using aller here would be less natural:

qui va par is grammatically possible, but not idiomatic in this context.

Just qui passe (without par) usually means “which passes” in a more general sense (e.g. time passes, something passes by), but doesn’t clearly express “going through different places on an itinerary”. Passer par is the standard collocation for a route that goes through places.

Why is it tous les lieux and not tout les lieux?

This is about the difference between tout (singular) and tous (plural):

tout (singular masculine) = all / the whole (before a singular masculine noun)
- tout le village = the whole village
tous (plural masculine) = all (before a plural masculine noun)
- tous les villages = all the villages
- tous les lieux = all the places

Since lieux is plural (and masculine), you must use tous:

✅ tous les lieux importants
❌ tout les lieux importants (incorrect)

So tous les lieux means all the places.

Why is it les lieux importants and not les importants lieux?

In French, most descriptive adjectives normally come after the noun:

un village tranquille = a quiet village
une histoire intéressante = an interesting story
des lieux importants = important places

Putting the adjective before the noun is only natural for a limited group (beau, petit, grand, vieux, etc.) or for certain stylistic effects. Important is not in that “usual before-the-noun” group, so:

✅ les lieux importants (normal French)
❌ les importants lieux (sounds awkward, overly literary, or just wrong in everyday language)

So the default rule: noun + adjective for this kind of description.

In qui passe par tous les lieux importants du village, what does qui refer to? Why qui and not que?

Qui is a relative pronoun introducing a relative clause. It refers back to le circuit:

le circuit qui passe par…
= the route that goes through…

Qui is used as the subject of the verb that follows:

qui passe → who/that passes

Use:

qui when it is the subject of the relative clause.
que when it is the direct object of the verb.

Compare:

Le circuit qui passe par tous les lieux importants…
= The route that goes through all the important places… (the route is doing the passing → subject → qui)
Le circuit que le guide décrit
= The route that the guide describes (the route is being described → direct object → que)

Why is it du village and not de le village?

Du is simply the contracted form of de + le:

de + le → du
de + les → des

So:

les lieux du village = the places of the village (literally: the places of-the village)

You cannot say de le village; standard French always contracts it to du:

✅ du village
❌ de le village

Other examples:

le maire du village = the mayor of the village
les habitants du quartier = the inhabitants of the neighborhood