Learn Hardcore French: Le dimanche, ils ramassent les déchets dans le parc et expliquent le tri aux enfants. - On Sundays, they pick up trash in the park and explain sorting to the children.

Le dimanche = On Sundays / every Sunday (a regular, habitual action).
Dimanche (without article) usually means this Sunday / on Sunday (a specific one, often future or past).
Les dimanches can also mean on Sundays, but it often emphasizes the plurality of the days themselves, sometimes with a more descriptive or emotional nuance, like Sundays (in general):
- Les dimanches, je m’ennuie. = Sundays, I get bored.

In your sentence, Le dimanche indicates a repeated weekly habit: they do this every Sunday.

Why is dimanche not capitalized in French?

In French, days of the week are written with a lowercase letter:

lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi, dimanche

They are only capitalized if they start the sentence (as here: Le dimanche is first in the sentence) or if they are part of a proper name or title. This is different from English, where days of the week are always capitalized.

Why is the verb ramassent used here and not something like prennent or collectent?

Ramasser literally means to pick up (from the ground). It’s the natural verb when you pick up objects that are lying around:

ramasser les déchets = pick up trash
ramasser des feuilles = pick up leaves
ramasser ses affaires = pick up one’s things

Prendre is more general (to take), and collecter is more formal and usually about collecting funds, data, etc. For physical trash lying around, ramasser is the usual everyday verb.

How do we know that ramassent is third person plural, when the ending -ent is not pronounced?

In writing, -ent on verbs marks third person plural (ils/elles) in the present tense:

ils ramassent
ils jouent
ils parlent

In speech, this -ent is silent, so ils ramassent is pronounced the same as il ramasse. You know it’s plural only from context and the subject pronoun ils, not from the sound of the verb.

So, the spelling shows the grammar; the pronunciation doesn’t change here.

Why is it les déchets and not singular le déchet?

Déchet means waste / scrap / trash as an item. In practice, trash is normally thought of as multiple pieces and is almost always used in the plural:

les déchets = trash, garbage, waste (as a mass of items)

Using le déchet (singular) is possible, but usually in a more specific or technical context, e.g.:

un déchet plastique = a piece of plastic waste

In everyday language about cleaning up trash, French speakers say les déchets.

What’s the difference between les déchets, les ordures, and les poubelles?

They all relate to trash, but with different nuances:

les déchets: general word for waste/trash (very common, neutral).
les ordures: also garbage/trash; often for household waste, can sound slightly stronger or dirtier.
la poubelle (singular): the trash can / bin itself.
les poubelles (plural): trash cans or the trash contained in them, depending on context.

In a park cleanup, ramasser les déchets is the most natural phrasing.

Why is it dans le parc and not au parc?

Both can be correct, but there is a nuance:

dans le parc emphasizes inside the park area, physically within its boundaries.
au parc (à + le parc) is more general: at the park / to the park.

Here, they are physically picking up litter in the park, so dans le parc fits well because it stresses being inside the space where the trash is lying.

What does le tri mean here, and why is there le in front of it?

Tri means sorting / separating / classifying. In the context of trash, le tri usually means:

le tri des déchets = sorting waste (e.g. recycling, compost, general waste).

It’s a masculine noun, so it takes le:

le tri = the sorting (process)
faire le tri = to sort things out / to do the sorting

In your sentence, expliquent le tri means they explain the sorting system (how to separate waste).

Why is it expliquer le tri aux enfants and not expliquer aux enfants le tri?

The verb expliquer follows this pattern:

expliquer quelque chose à quelqu’un
(to explain something to someone)

So word order options are:

ils expliquent le tri aux enfants
ils expliquent aux enfants le tri

Both are grammatically correct. The most common, neutral order is:

The thing explained (le tri) 2.– The people it’s explained to (aux enfants)

So the chosen order is just the most natural-sounding one.

What exactly is aux in aux enfants?

Aux is the contraction of:

à + les = aux

Since enfants is plural and uses les (the children), you can’t say à les enfants; it must contract:

à les enfants → aux enfants

So aux enfants = to the children.

Why is ils used? Does it refer only to men?

Ils is the third person plural subject pronoun for:

a group of men/boys
or a mixed group (men + women)
traditionally, ils is used by default when the gender is unknown or mixed

If the group is known to be entirely female, you would use elles instead:

Elles ramassent les déchets…

Why isn’t ils repeated before expliquent? Could it be ils ramassent… et ils expliquent…?

You can repeat it:

Le dimanche, ils ramassent les déchets… et ils expliquent le tri aux enfants.

But in French (and in English), when two verbs share the same subject and are joined by et, it’s very natural to mention the subject only once:

Ils ramassent… et expliquent…

The subject ils is understood to apply to both verbs, so repeating it is optional and usually not necessary.

Why is the present tense used? In English we often say “On Sundays they pick up…” or “They go every Sunday to…” — is the French present the same?

Yes. The French present tense is used both for:

actions happening right now, and
habitual or repeated actions, like routines.

So:

Le dimanche, ils ramassent les déchets…
= On Sundays, they pick up the trash… / Every Sunday, they pick up the trash…

Using the simple present is exactly how French expresses that Sunday habit.