Learn Hardcore French: L'équilibre entre le travail et la santé est important. - The balance between work and health is important.

French almost always needs an article before a singular countable noun, even in general statements. Équilibre here is a specific, general concept, so French uses the definite article: l'équilibre.

Two things are happening:

Definite article
- le = the (masculine singular)
- équilibre is masculine, so it would normally be le équilibre.
Elision (l' instead of le)
- When le or la comes before a word starting with a vowel or a mute h, it becomes l'.
- équilibre starts with a vowel sound, so le équilibre → l'équilibre.

You cannot say just Équilibre entre le travail et la santé est important in standard French; the article is required, so you need L'équilibre.

Why is it important and not importante? Doesn’t it agree with la santé?

The adjective important agrees with the grammatical subject of the sentence, which is L'équilibre, not la santé.

L'équilibre is masculine singular → adjective must be masculine singular: important.
La santé is part of a prepositional phrase (entre le travail et la santé) and is not the subject.

So:

L'équilibre … est important. ✅ (equilibre = masculine)
If the subject were feminine, you’d use importante:
- La santé est importante. ✅
- Cette relation est importante. ✅

How do you pronounce L'équilibre entre le travail et la santé? Are there any liaisons?

Approximate pronunciation (in simple phonetics):

L'équilibre → lay-kee-leeb(r)
entre → on-tr (the -re is very light)
le travail → leuh tra-vah-y (final l is almost silent)
et → ay
la santé → la son-tay (nasal on in san-)

Liaisons:

No liaison between L'équilibre and entre.
Optional liaison between entre and le: entre‿le can be heard as on-tr(eu)-leuh, but it’s not very strong or obligatory.
No liaison before et: travail et → tra-vah-y ay (not tra-vah-y‿tay).

So the whole sentence flows like:

L'équilibre entre le travail et la santé est important.
→ lay-kee-leeb(r) on-tr(eu) leuh tra-vah-y ay la son-tay eh to(n)-por-tan

Why do we use le travail and la santé? Could we say entre travail et santé without articles?

In French, abstract or general nouns usually take a definite article, even when English drops the.

le travail = work in general
la santé = health in general

The pattern entre le X et la Y is very natural and standard:
L’équilibre entre le travail et la santé est important.

You can sometimes see entre travail et santé without articles, especially:

in headlines, titles, slogans, or notes:
- Trouver un équilibre entre travail et santé
in very telegraphic or stylistic language.

But in a normal, full sentence, entre le travail et la santé sounds more complete and idiomatic.

What exactly does entre … et … mean, and can the word order change?

Entre … et … means between … and … and works almost exactly like English:

entre le travail et la santé = between work and health

The order cannot freely change; it must mirror English between A and B:

entre le travail et la santé ✅
entre la santé et le travail ✅ (just reversing the two items)
But you can’t put et before entre or something like that.

So you can swap the nouns on each side of et, but the structure entre … et … itself is fixed: entre A et B.

Could I say C’est important, l’équilibre entre le travail et la santé instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can, and both versions are correct, but the structure and emphasis change:

L’équilibre entre le travail et la santé est important.
- Straight, neutral statement.
- Subject = L’équilibre…
- Very typical written style.
C’est important, l’équilibre entre le travail et la santé.
- More spoken, more emphatic.
- C’est important = That’s important / It’s important.
- Then you clarify what is important: l’équilibre entre le travail et la santé.

The meaning is essentially the same, but the second feels more conversational and can sound like you’re insisting:
That’s important — the balance between work and health.

How would I make this sentence plural, like balances between work and health are important?

You’d make both the subject and the adjective plural:

Les équilibres entre le travail et la santé sont importants.

Changes:

L’équilibre → Les équilibres (masculine plural)
est → sont
important → importants (masculine plural)

Note that logically, French speakers more commonly talk about one general balance here, so the singular version is more natural. The plural version is grammatically correct but would usually be used in a more technical or theoretical context (e.g. different types of balances).

Is équilibre always masculine, and are there related words I should know?

Yes, équilibre is masculine:

un équilibre
l’équilibre
un bon équilibre

Useful related words and expressions:

équilibré / équilibrée = balanced (adjective)
- un régime équilibré = a balanced diet
déséquilibre (masc.) = imbalance
- un déséquilibre entre vie pro et vie perso
équilibrer = to balance
- équilibrer sa vie professionnelle et sa vie personnelle

So you might also say:

Trouver un bon équilibre entre le travail et la santé.

Can I replace travail with boulot in this sentence?

Grammatically, you could say:

L’équilibre entre le boulot et la santé est important.

But:

travail is neutral/standard.
boulot is informal/colloquial (like job or work in casual speech, sometimes closer to gig or day job).

So:

In formal writing or neutral speech: use le travail.
In very casual spoken language, le boulot is fine and will sound friendly/informal.

Is there any difference between saying est important and a de l’importance here?

Both are possible, but the style changes:

L’équilibre entre le travail et la santé est important.
- Very direct, common pattern: [subject] est [adjective].
- Neutral and natural.
L’équilibre entre le travail et la santé a de l’importance.
- Literally: has importance.
- Slightly more formal or heavier; you’d hear it less often in everyday conversation.

If you want natural, everyday French, est important is the best choice here.