Marie essaie ce pantalon dans la cabine.

Both essaie and essaye are accepted spellings of the je / tu / il / elle / on form of essayer in modern French.

So you can see:

• j’essaie / j’essaye
• tu essaies / tu essayes
• elle essaie / elle essaye

Essaie is very common and often preferred in modern materials, so the sentence Marie essaie ce pantalon is completely standard.

Here, essaie means tries on.

The verb essayer can mean:

• to try
• to try on

When the object is clothing, French often uses essayer without adding a separate word for on:

• Marie essaie ce pantalon. = Marie is trying on these pants / this pair of trousers.

French does also have essayer quelque chose in the general sense of trying something, so context tells you which meaning is intended.

French uses:

• ce before a masculine singular noun that begins with a consonant sound
• cet before a masculine singular noun that begins with a vowel or mute h
• cette for feminine singular nouns
• ces for plural nouns

Since pantalon is masculine singular and starts with p, you use ce:

• ce pantalon

Compare:

• cet homme
• cet article
• cette chemise
• ces pantalons

In French, un pantalon is grammatically singular, even though in English pants / trousers often look plural.

So:

• ce pantalon literally matches this trouser/pants item
• in natural English, it is usually translated as these pants or this pair of trousers, depending on the variety of English

A learner should remember that French treats pantalon as a singular count noun.

Because French and English do not build this idea the same way.

In English:

• try and try on are different expressions

In French:

• essayer by itself can already mean to try on when the object is clothing

So:

• Elle essaie le pantalon. = She is trying on the pants.

You do not need a separate particle equivalent to English on.

Here, dans la cabine means in the fitting room / in the changing booth / in the dressing room, depending on context.

The noun cabine by itself can mean booth, cabin, or a small enclosed space. In a clothing-store context, la cabine usually means the place where you try on clothes.

You may also hear:

• la cabine d’essayage = the fitting room / changing room

In everyday speech, people often shorten it to just la cabine when the situation is obvious.

Because dans means in / inside, which fits the idea of being physically inside the booth.

• dans la cabine = in the fitting room

Using à here would not be the normal choice for location inside an enclosed space. French commonly uses dans when someone is inside something:

• dans la voiture
• dans la maison
• dans la cabine

Because French usually uses an article where English sometimes does too, and sometimes does not.

Here, la cabine is the feminine singular definite article + noun:

• la cabine = the booth / the fitting room

In this sentence, it sounds natural because the speaker is referring to the fitting room in the situation, not just any fitting room in the world.

French often uses definite articles in places where English might still use the, but sometimes the article usage does not line up perfectly between the two languages. In this case, la is exactly what you would expect.

You know because it appears with la:

• la cabine

That tells you the noun is feminine. There is no perfect rule for guessing noun gender from meaning, so learners usually need to memorize each noun with its article:

• le pantalon
• la cabine

That is much better than memorizing the noun alone.

This is a very normal French sentence pattern:

• subject: Marie
• verb: essaie
• direct object: ce pantalon
• place expression: dans la cabine

So the structure is:

Marie + essaie + ce pantalon + dans la cabine

This is similar to standard English word order: Marie is trying on these pants in the fitting room.

French is often quite strict about keeping this straightforward order in basic statements.

It is possible in some contexts, but it is less neutral and less natural as a basic sentence.

The most ordinary version is:

• Marie essaie ce pantalon dans la cabine.

Putting dans la cabine before ce pantalon can sound marked or literary, or it may shift emphasis.

For learners, the safest pattern is: subject + verb + object + place

Essaie is pronounced roughly like eh-say or eh-sè, depending on accent and how narrowly you describe it.

A simple learner-friendly approximation is:

• essaie ≈ eh-SEH

Important points:

• the e at the beginning is pronounced
• the ss gives a normal s sound
• the ending is not pronounced like English eye

Also, the final e is not pronounced separately.

It is in the present tense: elle essaie.

In French, the present tense often covers both:

• she tries on
• she is trying on

So depending on context, Marie essaie ce pantalon can mean:

• Marie tries on these pants
• Marie is trying on these pants

French often does not need a separate form like English is trying.

Yes. That means Marie is in the middle of trying on these pants in the fitting room, with extra emphasis on the ongoing action.

Compare:

• Marie essaie ce pantalon dans la cabine. = neutral, normal present tense
• Marie est en train d’essayer ce pantalon dans la cabine. = emphasizes that it is happening right now

French speakers often prefer the simpler present tense unless they specifically want to stress that the action is in progress.

There could be, if the pants had already been mentioned.

For example:

• Marie l’essaie dans la cabine. = Marie is trying it on in the fitting room.

But if you are naming the item directly for the first time, ce pantalon is clearer and more natural.

So:

• ce pantalon = this pair of trousers / these pants
• l’ = it, when the object is already known from context

No, not in this meaning.

To say someone is trying on clothes, you normally use essayer with a direct object:

• Marie essaie ce pantalon.

S’essayer à exists, but it means something different, like to try one’s hand at something:

• Marie s’essaie au piano. = Marie is trying her hand at the piano.

So for clothing, use plain essayer + item of clothing.