Nous allons voir le feu d’artifice au bord de la mer.

Nous allons voir is the futur proche: aller in the present tense + an infinitive.

• nous allons voir = we are going to see
• nous verrons = we will see

Both can talk about the future, but futur proche is extremely common for plans, intentions, or things that feel upcoming and concrete. In this sentence, it sounds very natural because it suggests a planned outing.

In French, after aller when it is used for the near future, you put the infinitive directly after it:

• aller + infinitive
• nous allons voir
• je vais manger
• ils vont partir

So French does not add an extra word between allons and voir. English says going to see, but French simply says go see in structure.

Both words can relate to seeing, but they are not used in exactly the same way.

• voir = to see
• regarder = to watch / to look at

With events like a show, movie, or fireworks display, French often uses voir very naturally:

• voir un film
• voir un match
• voir le feu d’artifice

Regarder would emphasize the act of watching more actively. It is possible in some contexts, but voir is the more idiomatic choice here.

Because feu d’artifice is very often treated as a single display or event: the fireworks display.

So:

• le feu d’artifice = the fireworks show / the fireworks display

Even though English usually says fireworks in the plural, French commonly uses the singular for the event itself.

You can also meet des feux d’artifice, but that more often means fireworks in general or multiple fireworks displays.

D’ is just de shortened before a vowel sound.

• de + artifice → d’artifice

This is called elision. French often drops the e of de before a vowel:

• de école would become d’école
• de artifice becomes d’artifice

So feu d’artifice is a fixed expression, literally something like fire of pyrotechnics, though you should learn it as one vocabulary item meaning fireworks or fireworks display.

Because à + le contracts to au.

• à le → au
• au bord de = at the edge of / by / along

Since bord is masculine singular (le bord), French must use the contraction:

• au bord de la mer

You should think of au bord de as a very common chunk meaning by or at the edge of.

Because mer is a feminine noun:

• la mer = the sea

And du only comes from de + le, which is masculine:

• de + le = du
• de + la stays de la

So:

• au bord de la mer = by the sea
• au bord du lac = by the lake

The article depends on the gender of the noun after de.

Yes — and in everyday spoken French, that is often more common.

• nous allons voir... = more formal, careful, or written
• on va voir... = very natural in conversation

Even though on literally means one, it very often means we in modern spoken French.

So both are correct:

• Nous allons voir le feu d’artifice.
• On va voir le feu d’artifice.

Because French commonly puts place expressions after the main action:

• Nous allons voir le feu d’artifice au bord de la mer.

This is the most neutral word order. It flows as:

1. subject: Nous
2. verb phrase: allons voir
3. object: le feu d’artifice
4. place: au bord de la mer

You can move the place phrase for emphasis, for example:

• Au bord de la mer, nous allons voir le feu d’artifice.

But the original order is the most ordinary and natural.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

Noo za-lon vwar luh fuh dar-tee-fees oh bor duh la mehr

A few useful points:

• In nous allons, the s of nous links to the next word, so it sounds like noo za-lon
• allons has a nasal ending: the final -ons is not pronounced like English on
• feu has no exact English equivalent; it is a rounded vowel sound
• In bord, the final d is silent
• mer sounds roughly like mehr

If you want to sound natural, one of the most important parts is the smooth link in nous allons.