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Questions & Answers about Bienvenue à l’agence bancaire !
Why is it à l’agence and not just à agence?
Because French normally needs an article before a noun. Agence is a feminine singular noun, so the full form is à la agence in theory, but French does not like a + la before a vowel sound.
Since agence begins with a vowel, la becomes l’. So:
à + l’agence = à l’agence
This is very common:
- à l’école
- à l’hôtel
- à l’université
So à l’agence means to the branch/agency.
What does the apostrophe in l’agence mean?
The apostrophe shows elision. This happens when a short word like le or la drops its final vowel before a following word that begins with a vowel or silent h.
So:
- la agence becomes l’agence
This makes pronunciation smoother. Instead of saying two vowel sounds separately, French joins them more naturally.
Why is it Bienvenue and not Bienvenu?