Log inSign up

Pendant la fête, Marie distribue du gâteau à ses amis.

Pendant la fête, Marie distribue du gâteau à ses amis.
During the party, Marie hands out cake to her friends.
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching French grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning French now

Questions & Answers about Pendant la fête, Marie distribue du gâteau à ses amis.

Why is pendant used here instead of durant or lors de?

All three can relate to time, but they don’t behave exactly the same:

  • pendant la fête = during the party, focusing on the time span.
  • durant la fête = very close to pendant, but a bit more formal or literary; in everyday speech, pendant is more common.
  • lors de la fête = at the time of the party / on the occasion of the party; it sounds slightly more formal and often introduces a specific event that takes place then.

In normal conversational French, pendant la fête is the most neutral and common way to say during the party.

Why is it la fête and not une fête?
  • la fête = the party, a specific party that the speaker and listener both know about (for example, the party they’ve been talking about).
  • une fête = a party, any party, not previously identified.

Using la fête implies the party is already identified in the context, like during the (aforementioned/known) party.

Why is it the present tense distribue and not a past tense like a distribué?

In isolation, the present distribue means is distributing / distributes now.

If this sentence came from a story, French sometimes uses the présent de narration (narrative present) to make the action feel vivid, even when talking about the past; English often uses the past in such cases.

Grammatically:

  • Marie distribue du gâteau = Marie distributes / is distributing cake.
  • Marie a distribué du gâteau = Marie distributed / has distributed cake (completed in the past).

So distribue is simple present. To talk clearly about a past event, you’d normally use a distribué.

What is the infinitive of distribue, and how is it conjugated?

The infinitive is distribuer (to distribute, to hand out).

It’s a regular -er verb. Present tense (indicative):

  • je distribue
  • tu distribues
  • il / elle / on distribue
  • nous distribuons
  • vous distribuez
  • ils / elles distribuent

In the sentence, Marie distribue uses the il/elle form.

Why is it du gâteau and not le gâteau, un gâteau, or des gâteaux?

du gâteau uses the partitive article:

  • du gâteau = some cake / cake (an unspecified amount). It’s treating cake as a mass/uncountable quantity.
  • le gâteau = the cake (a specific cake as a whole).
  • un gâteau = a cake (one entire cake, countable item).
  • des gâteaux = cakes (more than one cake).

Here, Marie is giving her friends some cake, not necessarily a whole cake each, so French uses the partitive du gâteau.

Is du here really de + le?

Yes.

  • gâteau is masculine singular.
  • The partitive with a masculine singular noun is du, which is the contraction of de + le.

So literally du gâteau = some of the cake / some cake. The contraction du is mandatory: you cannot say de le gâteau.

Why is it à ses amis and not pour ses amis?

In French, the indirect object of distribuer (who receives what is being distributed) is introduced with à:

  • distribuer quelque chose à quelqu’un = to distribute something to someone.

So:

  • distribue du gâteau à ses amis = distributes cake to her friends.

pour would mean for, and suggests purpose or benefit, not direct receiving.
For example:

  • Elle prépare un gâteau pour ses amis. = She prepares a cake for her friends (for their benefit, not necessarily handing it directly to them yet).
Why is it ses amis and not son amis or les amis?

  1. ses is the possessive adjective for his/her/its before a plural noun:

    • son ami = his/her friend (singular, masculine).
    • sa amie → actually written son amie because amie starts with a vowel (to avoid a harsh sound).
    • ses amis = his/her friends (plural).

  2. ses agrees in number (plural) with amis, not with the gender of the owner.

  3. les amis = the friends with no possession; it doesn’t explicitly say they are her friends.
    ses amis makes it clear they are her friends.

Could we say Marie distribue à ses amis du gâteau instead? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

  • Marie distribue du gâteau à ses amis.
  • Marie distribue à ses amis du gâteau.

Both are grammatically correct and mean the same thing.

French tends to put the direct object (here: du gâteau) before the indirect object (here: à ses amis), especially when both are noun phrases. The first version sounds slightly more natural and common in everyday speech.

What’s the difference between pendant la fête and à la fête?
  • pendant la fête = during the party, focusing on the time period.
  • à la fête = at the party, focusing on the place/event as a location.

You could say:

  • À la fête, Marie distribue du gâteau à ses amis.
    → At the party, Marie hands out cake to her friends.

That’s also correct, but it slightly shifts the emphasis from the time span (during) to the location/event (at).

Are there any liaisons or tricky pronunciations in this sentence?

Yes, a couple of points:

  • Pendant la fête:

    • Final t in fête is silent.
    • No liaison between pendant and la in standard speech.

  • du gâteau:

    • Final u in du sounds like French u [y], not like English doo.
    • gâteau ≈ ga-toh; final -eau is [o].

  • ses amis:

    • There is a liaison: ses‿amis. You pronounce the s in ses like a z linked to amis: sé-zami.