J’hésite entre les pêches et les abricots, tandis que Marie choisit déjà la mangue.

Because je becomes j’ before a vowel sound or a silent h. This is called elision.

Since hésite begins with a silent h, je hésite changes to j’hésite.

So:

• je parle
• j’hésite
• j’habite

In all of these, the h is not pronounced.

Hésiter entre A et B is the normal French pattern for saying someone is undecided between two options.

So:

• J’hésite entre les pêches et les abricots = I’m hesitating between the peaches and the apricots / I can’t decide between peaches and apricots

A useful point: hésiter can mean either to hesitate in general or to be unsure / undecided. In this sentence, it clearly means being undecided between two choices.

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

So where English might say:

• I like peaches
• She chose mango

French often says:

• J’aime les pêches
• Elle choisit la mangue

In this sentence, the articles do not have to be translated as a very literal English the every time. They often just reflect normal French usage with nouns. Here they can suggest the fruits available, the types of fruit being considered, or the specific options in front of the speakers.

That is a choice of perspective.

The speaker is hesitating between two plural options:

• les pêches
• les abricots

This can sound like the peaches and the apricots, meaning the fruit available or the categories being considered.

Meanwhile, Marie choisit déjà la mangue presents Marie as choosing the mango or the mango option, so the singular works naturally.

French can use either singular or plural depending on what is being imagined:

• a type of fruit
• one item
• a group of items
• an option on display

So this is not a special rule about fruit names; it is just how the speaker frames the choices.

Tandis que means while, whereas, or while at the same time.

In this sentence, it mainly creates a contrast:

• I’m still hesitating
• whereas Marie has already chosen

So tandis que is not just linking two actions. It highlights the difference between them.

It is often a bit more formal or polished than a simple et.

In French, adverbs like déjà are often placed after the conjugated verb in a simple tense.

So:

• Marie choisit déjà la mangue

That is normal French word order.

English often puts already before the main verb, but French does not always match English placement.

Compare:

• Marie choisit déjà la mangue
• Marie a déjà choisi la mangue

In the second example, with a choisi (passé composé), déjà usually goes between the auxiliary and the past participle.

Because the subject is Marie, which is third person singular.

Present tense of choisir:

• je choisis
• tu choisis
• il / elle / on choisit
• nous choisissons
• vous choisissez
• ils / elles choisissent

So with Marie, you need:

• Marie choisit

Here it uses the indicative:

• tandis que Marie choisit déjà la mangue

That is because tandis que normally introduces a real action, a comparison, or a contrast, not something doubtful, desired, or hypothetical.

So in normal usage, tandis que does not trigger the subjunctive.

The word is pêche in the singular and pêches in the plural. The ê is a circumflex accent, and it is part of the correct spelling.

For many modern speakers, it does not create a very strong pronunciation difference in everyday speech, but it is still important in writing.

It also helps distinguish this spelling from other similar-looking words, such as péché.

So even if the pronunciation difference is small or absent for some speakers, you still need to write pêches correctly.

Yes. It helps separate the two clauses clearly:

• J’hésite entre les pêches et les abricots
• tandis que Marie choisit déjà la mangue

The comma makes the contrast easier to read and understand. In French, punctuation like this is very common when two full clauses are linked by an expression such as tandis que.