Dans le jardin, ma mère prend une pelle pendant que mon père cherche le râteau.

In the garden, my mother takes a shovel while my father looks for the rake.

Breakdown of Dans le jardin, ma mère prend une pelle pendant que mon père cherche le râteau.

• mon: my (before a masculine singular noun)
• ma: my
• dans: in
• le jardin: the garden

Questions & Answers about Dans le jardin, ma mère prend une pelle pendant que mon père cherche le râteau.

Why does the sentence start with Dans le jardin?

Dans le jardin means in the garden. French often allows a place phrase to come at the beginning of the sentence to set the scene.

So:

• Dans le jardin, ma mère prend une pelle...
• literally: In the garden, my mother takes a shovel...

This is very natural in French, just like In the garden, my mother... is natural in English. It gives the location first, then tells you what happens there.

Why is there a comma after Dans le jardin?

The comma helps separate the opening location phrase from the rest of the sentence.

• Dans le jardin, ma mère...

It works like an introductory phrase in English:

• In the garden, my mother...

In French, this comma is common and makes the sentence easier to read, though punctuation can sometimes vary depending on style.

Why do we say ma mère and mon père?