Questions & Answers about Dans le wagon où nous nous asseyons d’habitude, il y a de plus en plus de monde le vendredi soir.
Why is où used in le wagon où nous nous asseyons?
Because où is the relative pronoun used for place in French. Here it means where:
- le wagon où nous nous asseyons = the carriage where we sit
- More natural English might be the carriage we usually sit in
French uses où after a place noun much more directly than English does.
You could also say something with dans lequel, but où is simpler and more natural here.
Why are there two nous in nous nous asseyons?
They do two different jobs:
- the first nous = the subject pronoun, we
- the second nous = the reflexive pronoun, ourselves
The verb is s’asseoir, a reflexive verb meaning to sit down / to take a seat.
So:
- nous nous asseyons = we sit down / we take our seats
French often uses a reflexive structure where English does not.
Why is it asseyons? Is s’asseoir irregular?
Yes, s’asseoir is one of those verbs learners often notice because its forms are a bit irregular.
In this sentence:
- nous nous asseyons = we sit down
The stem changes from asseoir to assey- in this form.
You may also come across alternative forms with assoy-, because this verb has some variation in modern French. But nous nous asseyons is completely normal and standard.
So the important thing to remember is simply:
- infinitive: s’asseoir
- here: nous nous asseyons
What does d’habitude mean here, and why is there an apostrophe?
Why does the sentence use il y a?
How does de plus en plus de work?
De plus en plus de means more and more before a noun.
Structure:
- de plus en plus de + noun
Examples:
- de plus en plus de monde = more and more people
- de plus en plus de voitures = more and more cars
- de plus en plus de travail = more and more work
So in your sentence:
- il y a de plus en plus de monde = there are more and more people
The final de is required before the noun.
Why is it de monde and not des gens? And why is monde singular?
Monde here means people in a collective sense, like a crowd or people in general.
So:
- il y a du monde = there are people / it’s crowded
- beaucoup de monde = a lot of people
- de plus en plus de monde = more and more people
Even though it refers to many people, monde is grammatically singular in this use. French treats it as a mass/collective noun.
You could say des gens, but du monde / de monde is very idiomatic in this kind of sentence.
What exactly does le vendredi soir mean?
Le vendredi soir means on Friday evenings or on Friday night(s) in a habitual, general sense.
French often uses:
- le + day/time expression
to mean every or in general on that day/time.
So:
- le lundi = on Mondays
- le samedi matin = on Saturday mornings
- le vendredi soir = on Friday evenings
If you meant one specific Friday evening, you would say something like ce vendredi soir instead.
Why does the sentence begin with Dans le wagon... instead of putting that later?
French often puts a place expression at the beginning to set the scene or topic.
So:
feels natural and gives the location first: In the carriage where we usually sit, ...
You could express the same basic idea with a different word order, but the original sentence is very natural because it starts by establishing where this is happening.
Does wagon really mean wagon in French?
In French, wagon can mean a train car / carriage, depending on context.
So in this sentence, wagon refers to part of a train, not a western-style wagon.
That said, in railway vocabulary, French also uses words like voiture for a passenger carriage. But wagon is understandable and common enough in many contexts, especially in everyday speech.
So here, an English speaker should read wagon as train carriage / car, not as the usual English image of a wagon.
Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor
Start learning FrenchMaster French — from Dans le wagon où nous nous asseyons d’habitude, il y a de plus en plus de monde le vendredi soir to fluency
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
- ✓Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
- ✓Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
- ✓ AI tutor to answer your grammar questions