Questions & Answers about Au fur et à mesure que le repas du réveillon se prépare, toute la maison sent bon.
What does au fur et à mesure que mean?
It means as or gradually as, with the idea that two things are progressing together over time.
In this sentence:
- Au fur et à mesure que le repas du réveillon se prépare...
- = As the holiday meal is being prepared...
It is a fixed expression, and it often introduces a process that develops little by little.
Examples:
- Au fur et à mesure que la nuit tombe, il fait plus froid.
- As night falls, it gets colder.
- Au fur et à mesure que j’apprends, je comprends mieux.
- As I learn, I understand better.
Why is there a que after au fur et à mesure?
Because au fur et à mesure que is the full expression when it is followed by a clause.
Compare:
au fur et à mesure de + noun
- Au fur et à mesure de la journée...
- As the day goes on...
au fur et à mesure que + verb clause
- Au fur et à mesure que le repas se prépare...
- As the meal is being prepared...
So here, since a full clause follows (le repas du réveillon se prépare), French uses que.
Why does it say se prépare instead of just prépare?
Se préparer here means something like to get prepared or to be in the process of being prepared.
So:
- Le repas se prépare
- The meal is being prepared / the meal is coming together
This is a very common use of reflexive verbs in French, where the action happens to the subject in a general or passive-like way.
Compare:
- On prépare le repas.
- They/we/someone are preparing the meal.
- Le repas se prépare.
- The meal is being prepared.
Using prépare without se would mean the meal is doing the preparing, which does not make sense.
Is se prépare the same as est préparé?
Not exactly, though they can be close in meaning.
Le repas se prépare
- The meal is being prepared / is getting prepared
- More natural, process-focused, idiomatic
Le repas est préparé
- The meal is prepared / has been prepared
- More like a state or a straightforward passive
In this sentence, se prépare works well because it emphasizes the meal gradually coming together while the house fills with good smells.
What exactly does réveillon mean?
Le réveillon refers to a festive late-evening meal, usually on:
- Christmas Eve (le réveillon de Noël), or
- New Year’s Eve (le réveillon du Nouvel An / de la Saint-Sylvestre)
So le repas du réveillon means the holiday eve meal or the festive dinner for Christmas Eve/New Year’s Eve, depending on context.
For many learners, it helps to think of réveillon not as just dinner, but as a special traditional celebration meal.
Why is it du réveillon and not de réveillon?
Because French is talking about a specific meal: the meal of the réveillon.
- le repas du réveillon
- literally: the meal of the réveillon
Here, du = de + le.
This construction links the meal to a particular event. It is like saying:
- le repas de Noël = the Christmas meal
- le dîner du réveillon = the réveillon dinner
Using de réveillon by itself would not sound right here.
Why does French say sent bon and not sent bien?
Because after sentir, French usually uses an adjective like bon to describe the smell itself.
- ça sent bon
- it smells good
- ça sent mauvais
- it smells bad
So:
- toute la maison sent bon
- the whole house smells good
By contrast, sent bien would usually suggest smells well, as if referring to the ability to smell, which is not the intended meaning.
This is similar to:
- ça sent fort = it smells strong
- ça sent bon le pain frais = it smells nicely of fresh bread
Why is it toute la maison and not just la maison entière?
Both are possible, but toute la maison is the most natural and common way to say the whole house.
- toute la maison
- the whole house / all through the house
- la maison entière
- the entire house
In many everyday contexts, French prefers tout/toute + noun:
- tout le monde = everyone
- toute la journée = all day
- toute la maison = the whole house
So this phrasing is very idiomatic.
Why is toute feminine?
Because it agrees with maison, which is a feminine noun.
- le livre → tout le livre
- la maison → toute la maison
French adjectives and determiners often agree in gender and number with the noun they go with, and tout is one of them.
Here:
- maison = feminine singular
- so tout becomes toute
What tense is se prépare and sent?
They are both in the present tense.
- se prépare = is being prepared / gets prepared
- sent = smells
French often uses the present tense where English might also use the present, but sometimes English prefers a progressive form:
- le repas se prépare
- the meal is being prepared
- la maison sent bon
- the house smells good
So the French present can cover both a simple present idea and an ongoing action, depending on context.
Does toute la maison sent bon literally mean the house itself is smelling?
Yes, literally it does, but it is completely natural in both French and English.
It means that good smells are spreading through the whole house.
So the idea is:
- as the festive meal is being prepared,
- delicious smells fill the house.
French often uses sentir bon this way with places:
- La cuisine sent bon.
- The kitchen smells good.
- La maison sent bon le café.
- The house smells nicely of coffee.
Could the sentence also be written with a different word order?
Yes. French could also say:
- Toute la maison sent bon au fur et à mesure que le repas du réveillon se prépare.
That would still be correct.
The original version puts the time/progression idea first:
- Au fur et à mesure que...
- then the main result:
- toute la maison sent bon
This order sounds smooth and a little more descriptive or literary.
Is this a formal sentence, or something people would actually say?
It is natural French, but it has a slightly polished, descriptive feel.
Parts of it are very everyday:
- ça sent bon
- toute la maison
- le repas se prépare
The expression au fur et à mesure que is also common, but it is a bit more structured than simply saying pendant que or quand.
So the sentence sounds natural, especially in writing or in warm, descriptive speech, such as talking about holiday traditions.
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