Learn Hardcore French: Le guide distribue une petite brochure avec des informations pratiques. - The guide hands out a small brochure with practical information.

Le guide = the guide (a specific one that everyone knows about in this situation)
Un guide = a guide (one among others, not yet identified)
Bare guide (with no article) is generally not possible in standard French the way English can say Guide distributes… or Guide hands out….

So this sentence is talking about a particular guide (for example, the one leading your group), which is why it uses le (the definite article).

Can guide be feminine? How would you say the (female) guide?

Yes, guide can refer to a man or a woman. Grammatically, though, guide is a masculine noun, so:

le guide = the guide (male or female person)
un guide = a guide (male or female person)

If you really want to be explicit about a female guide, people sometimes say:

une guide (used in real life, though it sounds a bit marked to some speakers)
or add another word: une guide touristique, une guide-conférencière, etc.

But in many contexts, le guide could perfectly well refer to a woman; the grammatical gender does not necessarily match the person’s biological sex.

Why is the verb distribue here and not donne? Don’t they both mean gives?

Both distribuer and donner involve giving, but they focus on slightly different ideas:

distribuer = to hand out, to distribute
- suggests giving the same (or similar) thing to several people, usually in an organized way
- e.g. Le professeur distribue les copies. (The teacher hands out the papers.)
donner = to give (in general)
- more neutral; doesn’t imply giving to many people

In this sentence, the guide is presumably handing out brochures to a group of people, so distribue is more precise than donne.

How is distribue formed, and what tense is it?

Distribue is the third person singular, present tense of distribuer (to distribute).

Infinitive: distribuer
Stem: distribu-
Present tense endings (regular -er verb):
- je distribue
- tu distribues
- il / elle / on distribue
- nous distribuons
- vous distribuez
- ils / elles distribuent

So Le guide distribue… corresponds to English The guide distributes… / is distributing…

English says is handing out (progressive). Why does French just use the simple present distribue?

French normally uses the simple present where English often uses the be + -ing form.

Le guide distribue une petite brochure.
- can mean:
  - The guide distributes a small brochure (habitual, general fact), or
  - The guide is distributing a small brochure (right now, in this situation)

Context tells you which meaning is intended. French does have être en train de (e.g. Le guide est en train de distribuer…) but that is used only when you really want to insist on the ongoing nature of the action. It’s less common than English is -ing.

Why is it une petite brochure and not une brochure petite? I thought adjectives usually go after the noun in French.

Most adjectives do go after the noun in French, but some common ones usually go before. These often express:

size: petit, grand
beauty: beau, joli
age: jeune, vieux, nouveau
goodness: bon, mauvais
amount: autre, plusieurs, chaque, etc.

Petit(e) is one of those adjectives that typically come before the noun:

une petite brochure
un petit livre
une petite voiture

Une brochure petite is grammatically possible, but it would sound unusual and would strongly emphasize the smallness in a stylistic or ironic way. The normal, neutral position here is une petite brochure.

Why is brochure feminine (une brochure)?

Grammatical gender in French is mostly arbitrary and must be learned with each noun.

brochure happens to be feminine, so:
- une brochure (a brochure)
- la brochure (the brochure)
- une petite brochure (a small brochure)

There isn’t a logical rule that makes brochure feminine; it’s simply part of the word’s dictionary information: brochure (n. f.).

What’s the difference between brochure, dépliant, and prospectus?

They’re close in meaning, but with slight nuances and typical uses:

une brochure
- usually a little booklet, several pages, often stapled
- can be slightly more substantial or descriptive (tourist brochure, program brochure, etc.)
un dépliant
- a leaflet that folds out (tri-fold, accordion fold, etc.)
- physically “unfoldable” paper
un prospectus
- a flyer, advertising leaflet, often commercial
- often seen as junk mail or street advertising

In everyday speech, people sometimes use them loosely, but brochure generally feels more neutral and informative, which fits des informations pratiques well.

Why is it des informations in the plural, when in English we say information (uncountable)?

This is a common English–French difference:

In English, information is uncountable:
- some information, a piece of information
In French, information is usually countable, and very often used in the plural:
- une information = one (piece of) item of information
- des informations = (some) information / pieces of information

So des informations pratiques corresponds naturally to English practical information (uncountable), even though French uses the plural form.

Why is pratiques plural and not pratique?

French adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they describe:

Noun: des informations
- feminine
- plural

So the adjective must be:

feminine plural: pratiques

Basic pattern for pratique:

masculine singular: pratique
feminine singular: pratique
masculine plural: pratiques
feminine plural: pratiques

Since informations is feminine plural, you get des informations pratiques.

What exactly does informations pratiques mean? Is pratique a false friend with English practice?

Yes, pratique is often a false friend for English speakers.

As an adjective, pratique usually means:
- practical, useful, hands-on, related to real-life use
- e.g. des conseils pratiques = practical advice

Here, des informations pratiques means practical information:

information you can actually use (schedules, prices, how to get there, what to bring, etc.)

It does not mean information about practice (like music practice or law practice). That sense of English practice is usually something else in French (la pratique, l’exercice, le cabinet d’avocat, etc., depending on context).

Why is it avec des informations pratiques and not de or another preposition?

Avec literally means with and is very natural here:

une petite brochure avec des informations pratiques
- a small brochure with practical information

Other constructions are possible, but they change the nuance:

une petite brochure d’informations pratiques
- more like “a small brochure of practical information”
- feels a bit more formal or written, and the focus is more on the content-type
une petite brochure contenant des informations pratiques
- “a small brochure containing practical information”
- more explicit but heavier stylistically

In normal spoken French, avec is the simplest, most idiomatic choice to express that the brochure comes with that kind of content.

How do you pronounce this whole sentence, especially the silent letters and liaisons?

Phonetically (approximate, in IPA):

Le guide → /lə ɡid/
- final -e in guide is silent
distribue → /distʁiby/
- final -e silent, last sound is /y/ (like German ü)
une petite → /yn pətit/
- final -e in petite is usually silent, but the t is pronounced: /pə.tit/
brochure → /bʁɔʃyʁ/
- final -e silent
avec → /avɛk/
- pronounce the final c /k/
des informations → /dez‿ɛ̃fɔʁmasjɔ̃/
- liaison between des and informations: /dez‿ɛ̃-/
- final -s in informations silent
pratiques → /pʁatik/
- final -es silent; ends in /k/

Full sentence:

Le guide distribue une petite brochure avec des informations pratiques.
/lə ɡid distʁiby yn pətit bʁɔʃyʁ avɛk dez‿ɛ̃fɔʁmasjɔ̃ pʁatik/