Questions & Answers about Nous marchons jusqu'à la gare.
What tense is marchons, and can this sentence mean both we walk and we are walking?
Marchons is in the present indicative.
In French, the present tense often covers both:
- we walk
- we are walking
So Nous marchons jusqu'à la gare can mean either:
- a general/habitual action, depending on context
- something happening right now
French does not usually need a separate form like English are walking.
Why is it marchons and not marcher?
Because marcher is the infinitive, meaning to walk.
Here the verb is conjugated to match nous (we):
- je marche
- tu marches
- il/elle marche
- nous marchons
- vous marchez
- ils/elles marchent
So:
- marcher = to walk
- marchons = we walk / we are walking
Why do we need nous? Can French leave out the subject like some languages do?
In standard French, the subject pronoun is normally required, so nous must be there.
Unlike in some languages, you usually cannot just say Marchons jusqu'à la gare as a normal statement. That would sound like a command or suggestion in some contexts, not a plain statement.
So:
- Nous marchons... = We are walking...
Also, in everyday spoken French, people often use on instead of nous:
- On marche jusqu'à la gare.
That is very common in conversation.
What does jusqu'à mean here?
Why is there an apostrophe in jusqu'à?
Why is it à la gare and not au gare?
What is the difference between jusqu'à la gare and just à la gare?
Jusqu'à la gare emphasizes the idea of going all the way to that point.
With marcher, this is very natural because it shows the endpoint of the walking.
Compare:
- Nous marchons jusqu'à la gare. = We walk all the way to the station.
- Nous allons à la gare. = We are going to the station.
If you simply say à la gare, it may give the destination, but with marcher, jusqu'à often sounds clearer and more natural when you mean the walking continues up to that place.
Does marcher always mean to walk on foot?
How is gare used here? Does it automatically mean a train station?
How do you pronounce Nous marchons jusqu'à la gare?
A rough guide is:
A few useful points:
Could this sentence sound formal? Would a French speaker say it this way in everyday conversation?
It is completely correct, but nous marchons can sound a little more formal or written than everyday spoken French.
In conversation, many speakers would more naturally say:
- On marche jusqu'à la gare.
Both are correct:
- Nous marchons... = standard and clear
- On marche... = very common in speech
So the sentence is good French, but learners should know that on is often preferred in casual spoken language.
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