Quand la musique commence, les enfants se mettent à danser.

to dance

Breakdown of Quand la musique commence, les enfants se mettent à danser.

• la musique: the music
• quand: when
• l'enfant: the child

Questions & Answers about Quand la musique commence, les enfants se mettent à danser.

Why does the sentence begin with quand?

Quand means when here. It introduces a time clause: Quand la musique commence.

In this sentence, that clause sets the scene first, and then the main action comes after it:

• Quand la musique commence, ...
• les enfants se mettent à danser.

French often works this way, just like English: When the music starts, the children begin to dance.

Why is there a comma after commence?

Because the sentence starts with a time clause introduced by quand. French commonly uses a comma to separate that opening clause from the main clause:

• Quand la musique commence, les enfants se mettent à danser.

You can also reverse the order:

• Les enfants se mettent à danser quand la musique commence.

In that version, the comma is usually not needed.

Why do we say la musique and les enfants instead of just musique and enfants?