La rentrée commence lundi, et Marie prépare déjà son inscription à l’université.

The start of the school year begins on Monday, and Marie is already preparing her registration at the university.

Breakdown of La rentrée commence lundi, et Marie prépare déjà son inscription à l’université.

• Marie: Marie
• et: and
• à: at
• préparer: to prepare
• déjà: already
• commencer: to begin
• son: her
• l'université: the university
• le lundi: the Monday
• la rentrée: the start of the school year
• l'inscription: the registration

Questions & Answers about La rentrée commence lundi, et Marie prépare déjà son inscription à l’université.

What does la rentrée mean exactly? Is it just the return?

Not quite. In French, la rentrée is a very common expression that usually refers to the time when school, university, and often regular work life start up again after the summer break.

So in this sentence, la rentrée is best understood as the start of the new academic year / the back-to-school period.

It can also be used more broadly in French culture for the general return to normal activity after summer.

Why does the sentence use commence instead of a future form like commencera?

French often uses the present tense to talk about events in the near future, especially when the time is already clear.

Here, lundi tells us when it happens, so La rentrée commence lundi naturally means The new term starts on Monday.

This is very similar to English sentences like:

• School starts Monday
• My train leaves tomorrow

So the present tense here is completely normal.

Why is there no article before lundi?

When French names a specific day, it usually does not use an article:

• lundi = on Monday

But if you say le lundi, it usually means on Mondays or every Monday.

So:

• La rentrée commence lundi = it starts on one specific Monday
• J’étudie le lundi = I study on Mondays

What does inscription mean here?

Here, inscription means registration or enrollment.

So prépare son inscription à l’université means that Marie is getting the paperwork or process ready to register at the university.

Depending on context, inscription can sometimes overlap with application, but in this sentence registration/enrollment is the safest understanding.

Why is it son inscription and not sa inscription? Inscription is feminine, right?

Yes, inscription is feminine, so normally you would expect sa.

However, French uses mon, ton, son before a feminine singular noun that begins with a vowel or a silent h. This is done mainly for pronunciation.

So you get:

• son inscription
• mon amie
• ton école

instead of:

• sa inscription
• ma amie
• ta école

Even though inscription is feminine, son is required here because the next word starts with a vowel sound.

Does son mean the registration belongs to a man?

No. In French, possessive adjectives agree with the thing possessed, not with the owner.

So son inscription means his registration or her registration, depending on who owns it.

Since the owner here is Marie, it means her registration.

Why is it à l’université?

This is because inscription commonly goes with à when you say what institution someone is registering at.

So:

• une inscription à l’université = registration at the university

You also see the related verb:

• s’inscrire à l’université = to enroll/register at the university

So à is the natural preposition here.

What is happening in l’université? Why is it not la université?

This is called elision.

The article la becomes l’ before a word starting with a vowel sound:

• la université → l’université
• la école → l’école

French does this to make pronunciation smoother.

What does déjà do in the sentence?

Déjà means already.

It shows that Marie is starting this process early, before the rentrée has even begun.

So the idea is:

• the term starts Monday
• and Marie is already preparing her registration

It adds the sense that she is being early or proactive.

Why is déjà placed before son inscription?

In French, short adverbs like déjà, bien, mal, souvent are often placed after the conjugated verb and before whatever follows.

So:

• Marie prépare déjà son inscription

This is a very normal word order.

In English, already can move around more easily, but in French this position is especially common.

Is prépare translated as prepares or is preparing?

It can mean either, depending on context.

The French present tense often covers both:

• prepares
• is preparing

So Marie prépare déjà son inscription can mean:

• Marie already prepares her registration (less natural in English)
• Marie is already preparing her registration (more natural here)

English usually chooses the progressive form in this kind of situation, but French does not need a separate tense for that.

Why is there a comma before et?

The comma is used here because the sentence joins two complete clauses:

• La rentrée commence lundi
• Marie prépare déjà son inscription à l’université

In French, a comma before et is possible when it helps separate two full ideas clearly. It is a style choice here, not a special grammar rule you always have to copy.

So the sentence would still be grammatical without the comma, but the comma makes the structure a bit clearer.

How would la rentrée be pronounced, especially the r sounds?

A simple pronunciation guide would be:

la rentrée ≈ lah rahn-tray

A few helpful points:

• the French r is pronounced in the back of the throat, not like an English r
• en in rentrée sounds nasal, so you do not fully pronounce an n
• the final -ée sounds like ay

You do not need to make it perfect immediately, but it is good to notice that French r and nasal vowels are both important in this phrase.