La propriétaire dit que les charges sont comprises dans le loyer.

Breakdown of La propriétaire dit que les charges sont comprises dans le loyer.

être
to be
dans
in
que
that
dire
to say
le loyer
the rent
la charge
the charge
compris
included
la propriétaire
the owner
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How does grammatical gender work in French?
Every French noun is either masculine or feminine, and this affects the articles and adjectives used with it. "Le" is used with masculine nouns and "la" with feminine ones. Adjectives also change form to match — for example, "petit" (masc.) becomes "petite" (fem.).

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Questions & Answers about La propriétaire dit que les charges sont comprises dans le loyer.

Does la propriétaire mean owner or landlady here?

Literally, la propriétaire means the female owner. In a housing context, it often corresponds to the landlady in English.

A few useful points:

  • le propriétaire = the male owner / landlord
  • la propriétaire = the female owner / landlady

So the word can mean owner in a general sense, but in this sentence it most likely refers to the person renting out the property.

Why is it la propriétaire and not some different feminine form?

Because propriétaire is a noun that usually keeps the same spelling for both masculine and feminine. The article shows the gender:

  • le propriétaire = masculine
  • la propriétaire = feminine

So the change is in le / la, not usually in the noun itself.

Why is the verb dit and not dis?

Because the subject is la propriétaire, which is she / third person singular.

The verb dire (to say) is conjugated like this in the present tense:

  • je dis = I say
  • tu dis = you say
  • il/elle/on dit = he/she/one says

So la propriétaire dit means the landlady says.

What is que doing in the sentence?

Que means that and introduces the second clause:

  • La propriétaire dit que...
  • The landlady says that...

In English, that is often optional:

  • She says the charges are included
  • She says that the charges are included

In French, que is normally required in this structure.

What exactly does les charges mean here?

In rental French, les charges usually means service charges or building-related costs that come with the apartment.

Depending on the situation, it can include things like:

  • water
  • heating
  • maintenance of common areas
  • trash collection
  • building fees

It does not usually mean charges in the sense of accusations or phone charges. In housing, les charges is a very common fixed expression.

Why is charges plural?

Because French normally talks about these rental costs as a group of separate items, so it uses the plural: les charges.

That is very natural in French, even if English learners might expect something more like the service charge or utilities depending on context.

So:

  • les charges = the charges / service charges / utilities-related costs
Why is it sont comprises and not sont compris?

Because comprises agrees with les charges, which is feminine plural.

Here is the agreement:

  • compris = masculine singular
  • comprise = feminine singular
  • compris = masculine plural
  • comprises = feminine plural

Since charges is plural and feminine, French uses comprises.

So:

  • les charges sont comprises = the charges are included
Does comprises come from comprendre? Why does it mean included?

Yes. Comprises comes from the verb comprendre.

You may already know comprendre as to understand, but it also has another meaning: to include or to contain.

So in this kind of sentence:

  • compris / comprise / comprises often means included

For example:

  • Petit déjeuner compris = breakfast included
  • Les charges sont comprises = the charges are included

So this is the same verb family, but used in a different sense.

Why does French use sont comprises instead of a single verb meaning include?

French often expresses this idea with être + compris:

  • Les charges sont comprises
  • literally, the charges are included

This is very natural in notices, ads, and rental language.

Another possible way to say something similar would be:

  • Le loyer comprend les charges = The rent includes the charges

Both are correct, but the sentence you have is especially common in housing contexts.

Why is it dans le loyer?

Because French uses dans to express the idea of something being included in an amount or package.

So:

  • dans le loyer = in the rent

This is the natural preposition here. English also uses in:

  • included in the rent
Why is it le loyer and not just loyer?

French usually needs an article before nouns much more often than English does.

So French says:

  • dans le loyer

where English might say either:

  • in the rent
  • or simply in rent in a less standard phrasing

Using le here is completely normal and expected in French.

Could the sentence also be written without que?

Not in this structure.

French normally needs que after a verb like dire when it introduces a full clause:

  • La propriétaire dit que les charges sont comprises dans le loyer.

If you remove que, the sentence becomes ungrammatical.

The only way around it would be to change the structure completely, for example by quoting directly:

  • La propriétaire dit : les charges sont comprises dans le loyer.

That is more like:

  • The landlady says: the charges are included in the rent.
How would you pronounce the sentence?

A rough pronunciation guide would be:

La propriétaire dit que les charges sont comprises dans le loyer
la pʁɔ-pʁi-e-tair dee kuh lay sharzh sohn kohn-preez dahn luh lwa-yay

A few quick notes:

  • propriétaire has several syllables: pro-pri-é-taire
  • dit sounds like dee
  • charges sounds roughly like sharzh
  • comprises ends with a z sound: kohn-preez
  • loyer sounds roughly like lwa-yay

If you want to sound more natural, the rhythm matters too: La propriétaire / dit que / les charges sont comprises / dans le loyer.