Finding the restroom during a break | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. Combien de temps dure la pause ?

   How long is the break?

   Combien de temps

   how long

   dure

   lasts

   la pause

   the break

   More detail

   Combien de temps asks about duration: “how long?” It is a reusable question pattern. For example, Combien de temps dure le film ? means “How long is the film?” dure is the third-person singular present form of durer, “to last.” The subject here is singular, la pause, so French uses dure; the base form is durer. For example, Le cours dure une heure. means “The class lasts one hour.” la pause means “the break.” Pause is a feminine noun, so its singular definite article is la. The related plural form is les pauses, “the breaks.” Together, Combien de temps dure la pause ? asks for the duration of the break and means “How long is the break?”

2. La pause dure dix minutes.

   The break is ten minutes long.

   pause

   break

   dure

   lasts

   dix

   ten

   minutes

   minutes

   More detail

   pause means “break” here. The noun is feminine: la pause uses the feminine singular definite article. Its plural is les pauses; the final -s is normally not pronounced. dure is the third-person singular present form of durer, “to last.” The subject is la pause, so the singular form agrees with it. Useful forms are je dure, il/elle dure, and ils/elles durent; the final -ent in durent is not pronounced. Example: Le film dure deux heures. — “The film lasts two hours.” dix means “ten.” In this sentence it gives the number of units in the duration. French number words such as dix do not change for the gender of the noun they count. minutes means “minutes.” It is the plural of the feminine noun minute; une minute is “one minute,” and dix minutes is “ten minutes.” The plural noun follows the number here. Together, La pause is the subject, dure says how long it lasts, and dix minutes gives the duration. The whole utterance therefore means “The break is ten minutes long.”

3. Où sont les toilettes ?

   Where is the restroom?

   Où

   where

   sont

   are

   les toilettes

   the restroom

   More detail

   Où means “where” and asks about a location. It is an invariable question adverb: it does not change for the person or number of the thing being located. For example, Où est la gare ? means “Where is the station?” Sont is the present-tense third-person plural form of être (“to be”): être → ils/elles sont. Here it agrees with the plural noun phrase les toilettes, not with Où. The singular counterpart is est, as in Où est la gare ? (“Where is the station?”). Les toilettes literally uses les, the definite article for a plural noun, with toilettes, a plural noun meaning “toilet facilities/restroom.” In this fixed sentence, the plural French expression corresponds naturally to the singular English translation “the restroom.” The form les is not an indication of a numeric count; it marks the noun phrase as definite and plural. For example, Les toilettes sont à droite. means “The restroom is on the right.” Together, Où + sont + les toilettes forms a location question: “Where are the restroom facilities?” Its natural English equivalent here is “Where is the restroom?”

4. Sors de la salle et tourne à droite.

   Go out of the room and turn right.

   Sors

   Go out / leave

   salle

   room

   tourne

   turn

   à droite

   to the right

   More detail

   Sors is the informal singular imperative of sortir, “to go out” or “to leave.” The imperative gives a direct instruction to one person. The same form is also used for present-tense tu in some contexts: Tu sors means “You are going out.” Example: Sors maintenant. — “Go out now.” salle means “room” here. It is a feminine singular noun, so the phrase uses la: de la salle means “from/out of the room.” The preposition de combines with the feminine singular definite article as de la; it is not a quantity marker. Example: La salle est grande. — “The room is large.” tourne is the informal singular imperative of tourner, “to turn.” For regular -er verbs, the tu imperative normally ends in -e: tourner → tourne. The same spelling can also be present-tense tu: Tu tournes à droite means “You turn right” or “You are turning right,” depending on context. Example: Tourne à gauche. — “Turn left.” à droite is a direction phrase meaning “to the right.” Its opposite is à gauche, “to the left.” Example: La banque est à droite. — “The bank is on the right.” Together, Sors de la salle gives the instruction “Go out of the room,” and tourne à droite adds the next instruction, “turn right.” The two imperative clauses are joined by et, “and,” producing: “Go out of the room and turn right.”

5. Je pense que je peux les trouver.

   I think I can find it.

   Je pense

   I think

   peux

   can; am able to

   les

   them

   trouver

   find

   More detail

   Je pense means “I think” here. pense is the present-tense first-person singular form of penser; the subject je shows who is thinking. The pattern Je pense que + clause introduces the speaker’s thought: Je pense que tu as raison. — “I think you are right.” peux is the present-tense first-person singular form of pouvoir (“can; be able to”). In je peux + infinitive, it expresses the speaker’s ability or possibility: Je peux venir. — “I can come.” les is a plural direct-object pronoun meaning “them” in this use. French places this object pronoun before the infinitive in les trouver. trouver is the infinitive “to find.” After peux, it remains in the infinitive: Je peux les trouver — “I can find them.” Together, Je pense que + je peux les trouver means “I think that I can find them,” naturally “I think I can find them.” The supplied English translation uses singular “it,” but the French pronoun les is grammatically plural and means “them.”

6. Je vais attendre ici avant que le cours recommence.

   I will wait here before class starts again.

   Je vais

   I will / I am going to

   attendre

   wait

   ici

   here

   avant que

   before

   cours

   class

   recommence

   starts again

   More detail

   Je vais: This is the common French near-future pattern aller in the present + an infinitive. vais is the first-person singular present form of aller; attendre remains in the infinitive. Together, je vais + infinitive expresses what the speaker is going to do, often translated as “I will” or “I am going to.” Example: Je vais partir. — “I am going to leave.” attendre: Here it means “to wait.” The form is the infinitive, used after vais. Its present-tense forms include j’attends (“I wait / I am waiting”) and ils attendent (“they wait / they are waiting”). Example: J’attends le bus. — “I am waiting for the bus.” ici: This adverb means “here,” referring to the speaker’s current location. Example: Reste ici. — “Stay here.” avant que: This conjunction means “before” when it introduces a clause with a verb. In French, avant que is followed by the subjunctive. It is different from avant de, which is followed by an infinitive: avant de partir — “before leaving.” cours: Here this noun means “class.” Le cours is singular; les cours is plural. The noun cours has the same spelling in the singular and plural, so the article or another determiner shows the number. Example: Le cours commence à neuf heures. — “Class starts at nine o’clock.” recommence: This is from recommencer, “to start again” or “to begin again.” In this sentence it is the third-person singular present subjunctive, required after avant que; its form is recommence. The prefix re- contributes the sense of doing something again. Example: Nous attendons avant qu’il recommence. — “We wait before he starts again.” Together, Je vais attendre ici means “I will wait here,” and avant que le cours recommence means “before class starts again.” The complete utterance is therefore: “I will wait here before class starts again.”