Choosing a Movie Together | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. Tu veux un film à suspense, mais j'espérais quelque chose de plus léger.

   You want a thriller, but I was hoping for something lighter.

   Tu

   you

   veux

   want

   film

   film

   à suspense

   thriller

   mais

   but

   j'espérais

   was hoping

   quelque chose

   something

   plus léger

   lighter

   More detail

   Tu is the informal singular form of “you,” used here for the person being addressed. French contrasts it with vous, used for more than one person or in formal address. Example: Tu viens ? — “Are you coming?” veux is the present-tense form of vouloir (“to want”) for tu: je veux, tu veux, il/elle veut. In this sentence it expresses the other person’s preference. Example: Tu veux du thé ? — “Do you want tea?” film is a masculine noun meaning “film” or “movie.” Its plural is films; the masculine article is un film, while the plural form is des films. Example: Nous regardons un film. — “We are watching a film.” à suspense is a compact genre expression meaning “a thriller” or “a suspense film” when it describes film. The preposition à is part of this expression; it is not the same as simply saying un film. mais connects two contrasting parts and means “but.” Here it contrasts the other person’s preference with the speaker’s different preference. Example: Je comprends, mais je préfère rester ici. — “I understand, but I prefer to stay here.” j'espérais is the first-person singular imperfect form of espérer (“to hope”): j'espérais means “I was hoping” here. The apostrophe in j' represents the elided form of je before a vowel. The imperfect presents the hoping as an ongoing or background state in the past, rather than as a completed event. Example: J'espérais te voir. — “I was hoping to see you.” quelque chose is an indefinite pronoun meaning “something.” It refers to an unspecified thing, so it does not identify a particular object. When an adjective follows it in the pattern quelque chose de + adjective, standard French uses the masculine singular form of the adjective: quelque chose de léger — “something light.” Example: Je cherche quelque chose de simple. — “I’m looking for something simple.” plus léger means “lighter” in this sentence. léger is the masculine singular form of the adjective, and plus léger forms a comparative with plus (“more”). In quelque chose de plus léger, léger is masculine singular because it follows the pronoun quelque chose; it does not agree with a specific film named in the sentence. A feminine noun would take légère, as in une valise légère — “a light suitcase.” The opposite comparison is moins léger (“less light”), though the natural choice for “heavier” is often plus lourd. Together, Tu veux un film à suspense means “You want a thriller.” Mais introduces a contrast, and j'espérais quelque chose de plus léger means “I was hoping for something lighter.” The complete utterance is therefore: “You want a thriller, but I was hoping for something lighter.”

2. On peut peut-être trouver un film que nous avons tous les deux envie de voir.

   Maybe we can find a film we both feel like watching.

   On peut

   we can

   peut-être

   maybe

   trouver

   find

   film

   film

   tous les deux

   both

   avons … envie de

   feel like

   voir

   watch

   More detail

   On peut uses pouvoir in the present tense: peut is the third-person singular form, while on is grammatically singular. In this sentence, the fixed translation shows that on means “we,” a common conversational use when the speaker includes the listener. Pouvoir + infinitive expresses ability or possibility: On peut trouver = “we can find.” Peut-être is an adverb meaning “maybe” or “perhaps.” It makes the proposal less certain: the sentence presents finding a film as a possibility, not a certainty. Trouver is the infinitive “to find.” After the conjugated modal peut, the following verb remains in the infinitive. For example, On peut regarder un film means “We can watch a film.” Film is a masculine French noun. Its singular form is film; the plural is films. Here, un film refers to a film as the possible thing to find. The indefinite article un marks a singular noun grammatically; it is not by itself an extra claim about quantity. Tous les deux means “both” and identifies the two members included by nous: the speaker and one other person. Tous is the masculine or mixed-group form in this expression; with two feminine people, French uses toutes les deux. Avons ... envie de is the construction avoir envie de + infinitive, literally involving “having the desire to,” and naturally meaning “to feel like” or “to want to.” Avons is the first-person plural present form of avoir (“to have”), used with nous. The noun envie is part of the construction, and de introduces the following infinitive. For example, Nous avons envie de sortir means “We feel like going out.” Voir is the infinitive “to see”; in this context, with a film as its object, it naturally means “to watch.” It stays in the infinitive after envie de: avoir envie de voir = “to feel like watching.” The relative word que links un film to the clause describing it: un film que nous avons tous les deux envie de voir means “a film that we both feel like watching.” Combining this with on peut trouver and peut-être gives the whole utterance: “Maybe we can find a film we both feel like watching.”

3. Que penses-tu de cette comédie policière ? Les critiques disent qu'elle n'est pas trop intense.

   What about this mystery comedy? The reviews say it isn't too intense.

   Que

   what

   penses-tu

   do you think

   cette

   this

   comédie

   comedy

   policière

   mystery/crime

   critiques

   reviews

   disent

   say

   qu'elle

   that it

   n'est pas

   is not

   trop

   too

   intense

   intense

   More detail

   Que asks for an opinion or evaluation: Que penses-tu de ... ? means “What do you think of ...?” Here de introduces the thing being evaluated. In other contexts, que can have other roles, so learn this question pattern as a unit. penses-tu comes from penser, “to think.” The form penses is present tense, second-person singular; -tu is the subject pronoun placed after the verb in this formal question pattern. Compare the familiar spoken pattern Tu penses que… ? (“Do you think that…?”). The -s belongs to the verb form penses, not to tu. cette is the feminine singular form of the demonstrative meaning “this.” It agrees with the noun it determines. The corresponding masculine singular form is ce or cet before certain vowel sounds; plural forms include ces. comédie is a feminine noun meaning “comedy.” The phrase identifies the work as a comedy. A useful contrast is un film comique, “a comic film,” where comique is an adjective rather than the noun comédie. policière describes comédie here as a crime or mystery work. It is the feminine singular form of the adjective policier, because it agrees with feminine singular comédie; the masculine singular form is policier. In this sentence it describes the genre, not a female police officer. For example, un roman policier means “a crime novel,” while une série policière means “a crime series.” Together, cette comédie policière means “this mystery/crime comedy.” The adjective follows the noun and combines two genre characteristics. critiques is the plural noun “reviews” here. Its singular is critique, which can mean “a review” in this context. The same written form can also refer to critics depending on context, but the fixed translation selects “reviews.” disent comes from dire, “to say” or “to tell.” It is present tense, third-person plural: ils/elles disent, “they say.” The form is irregular, so it is not formed by simply adding a regular ending to dire. Example: Les critiques disent que le film est réussi. — “The reviews say that the film is successful.” qu'elle combines the conjunction que (“that”) with elle (“she/it” for a feminine referent); the vowel of que is elided before elle. Here the translation’s “it” refers to the work being discussed, understood as feminine in French. This introduces the content of what the reviews say. n'est pas is the negative form of est, from être, “to be”: ne ... pas surrounds the conjugated verb. est is third-person singular present, and ne is shortened to n' before the vowel. In this sentence, the negated adjective says that the work does not have the stated quality to an excessive degree. trop means “too” before an adjective and marks an excessive degree: trop intense, “too intense.” This is stronger than simply pas très intense (“not very intense”), which expresses a lower degree without the same idea of excess. intense is the adjective “intense.” Its masculine and feminine singular forms have the same spelling, so the feminine referent does not create a visible change here. A plural form is intenses. Example: Cette scène est intense. — “This scene is intense.” The whole utterance first asks for the listener’s opinion of cette comédie policière. It then reports the reviews’ assessment: Les critiques disent qu'elle n'est pas trop intense — “The reviews say it isn't too intense.” The complete translation is therefore: “What about this mystery comedy? The reviews say it isn't too intense.”

4. Ça pourrait marcher. Est-ce qu'il y a des sous-titres ?

   That could work. Does it have subtitles?

   Ça

   That

   pourrait

   could

   marcher

   work

   Est-ce qu'il y a

   Is there / are there

   sous-titres

   subtitles

   More detail

   Ça means “that” here: a demonstrative pronoun referring to an already understood option or proposal. It is not the noun for the film itself; French uses ça for a nonspecific “that/it” in many everyday contexts. A more formal alternative is cela. pourrait is the conditional form of pouvoir (“can, be able to”). With an infinitive, pouvoir + infinitive expresses possibility or ability; here the conditional makes the possibility tentative: “could work.” Compare peut (“can/may”) with pourrait (“could/might”). marcher is the infinitive of marcher. Besides its literal meaning “to walk,” it can mean “to work” or “to function” when an idea, plan, or solution is successful or effective. The infinitive follows pourrait: ça pourrait marcher = “that could work.” Example: Cette solution pourrait marcher. — “This solution could work.” Est-ce qu'il y a is a reusable French question pattern meaning “is there?” or “are there?” It asks whether something exists or is available. In this pattern, il is part of the impersonal expression il y a, not a clearly identified person, and y belongs to the expression rather than naming a separate referent. The form does not change to agree with the thing mentioned: il y a un problème = “there is a problem,” and il y a des problèmes = “there are problems.” sous-titres is the plural noun “subtitles.” The singular is sous-titre; the plural ending marks more than one subtitle. In this sentence, the plural noun follows il y a, so the question asks whether subtitles are available. Example: Le film a des sous-titres. — “The film has subtitles.” Together, Ça pourrait marcher says that the understood option or proposal is a possible workable choice: “That could work.” Then Est-ce qu'il y a des sous-titres ? asks whether subtitles are available for the item under discussion, naturally translated here as “Does it have subtitles?”

5. Oui, il y en a, et le film n'est pas trop long.

   It does, and it isn't too long.

   Oui

   yes

   il y en a

   there are some

   film

   film

   n'est pas

   is not

   long

   long

   More detail

   Oui means “yes” and confirms the preceding question. It is a standalone affirmative response. il y en a is the reusable French existence pattern il y a (“there is/are”) with en replacing an already understood plural or indefinite thing. Here, context supports understanding en as subtitles, so the phrase means “there are some.” The form a is the present-tense form of avoir (“to have”) used in this fixed existential pattern. For a singular item, French commonly uses il y en a un/une when the quantity is specified. film is the noun “film” or “movie.” In the utterance it appears with the masculine singular article le: le film. Its plural form is films, as in des films (“films”); the article and surrounding grammar show whether the noun is singular or plural. n'est pas expresses negation around est (“is”): ne ... pas means “not,” and ne est contracts to n'est. In this sentence, n'est pas means “is not.” In less formal spoken French, ne is often omitted, but the observed sentence uses the full written form. long is the masculine singular form of the adjective meaning “long.” It agrees with the masculine singular noun film. Its feminine singular form is longue, and the plural forms are longs and longues according to gender. Here, trop before long means “too,” so n'est pas trop long means “isn't too long,” not simply “isn't long.” Together, Oui, il y en a confirms that subtitles exist, and et le film n'est pas trop long adds that the film is not excessively long. The complete meaning is: “Yes, there are some, and the film isn't too long.”

6. Les films plus courts sont mieux quand on commence tard.

   Shorter movies are better when we start late.

   films

   movies

   plus courts

   shorter

   sont

   are

   mieux

   better

   on

   we

   commence

   start

   tard

   late

   More detail

   films means “movies” here. It is the plural of film; the singular is film, and the plural is usually formed by adding -s in writing. Example: J’aime les films. — “I like movies.” plus courts means “shorter.” courts is the plural masculine form of the adjective court (“short”), agreeing with the plural masculine noun films. The pattern plus + adjective forms a comparative: plus court (“shorter” with a singular masculine noun) and plus courts (“shorter” with a plural masculine noun). Example: Ces épisodes sont plus courts. — “These episodes are shorter.” sont is a form of être (“to be”), in the present tense and third-person plural. It agrees with the plural subject Les films. The singular counterpart is est: Le film est court. — “The movie is short.” mieux means “better” here. It is the comparative form related to the adverb bien (“well”), not the adjective bon (“good”). French uses meilleur as the adjective with a noun: Ce film est meilleur. — “This movie is better.” In the supplied sentence, mieux is used in the predicate sont mieux to express the comparison “are better.” on is a subject pronoun translated here as “we.” Its exact participants are not identified by this form itself; French on uses a third-person singular verb even when it has this “we” meaning. Example: On regarde un film. — “We are watching a movie.” commence is the present-tense third-person singular form of commencer (“to start” or “to begin”). It matches on. With nous, the corresponding form is commençons: Nous commençons tôt. — “We start early.” tard is an adverb meaning “late.” It does not change for singular or plural subjects. Its opposite is tôt (“early”): On commence tôt. — “We start early.” Together, Les films plus courts is the subject “shorter movies,” and sont mieux says that they are better in the relevant sense. quand on commence tard means “when we start late”: quand introduces the time or condition in which the starting occurs, and on commence uses the singular verb form required by on. The complete utterance therefore means: “Shorter movies are better when we start late.”

7. La bande-annonce a un peu de suspense, mais le film a quand même l'air drôle.

   The trailer has some suspense, but it still looks funny.

   La bande-annonce

   the trailer

   a

   has

   un peu de

   some; a little

   suspense

   suspense

   mais

   but

   le film

   the film

   quand même

   still; nevertheless

   l'air

   appearance

   drôle

   funny

   More detail

   La bande-annonce means “the trailer.” The noun bande-annonce is feminine, so the definite article is la. Its plural is les bandes-annonces. Example: J'ai regardé la bande-annonce. — “I watched the trailer.” a is the third-person singular present form of avoir (“to have”): j'ai, tu as, il/elle a. Here it says that the trailer contains or offers some suspense. Example: Le film a une bonne fin. — “The film has a good ending.” un peu de expresses a small amount of something, and de remains before the noun: un peu de suspense. It does not state an exact quantity. Example: Il y a un peu de bruit. — “There is a little noise.” Suspense is the noun “suspense.” In this sentence it is used without an article after un peu de, because that quantity expression is followed by de plus the noun. mais introduces a contrast: “but.” It connects the trailer’s suspense with the film’s different quality in the second part. Le film means “the film.” Film is a masculine noun, which is why the definite article here is le; its plural is les films. Example: Le film commence tôt. — “The film starts early.” Quand même means “still” or “nevertheless.” Here it signals that, despite the suspense mentioned in the first part, the film nevertheless looks funny. Its meaning comes from the contrast with mais; it is not part of the meaning of le film or l'air. L'air drôle is the reusable construction avoir l'air + adjective, meaning “to look/seem + adjective.” L'air is the noun air with the elided article le before a vowel. In this construction, drôle describes the subject being assessed, here le film, and is masculine singular. The adjective does not mean “air” itself. Example: Cette idée a l'air intéressante. — “This idea looks interesting.” Drôle means “funny” here. The adjective has the same form for masculine and feminine singular in this spelling; the plural is drôles. Its meaning can depend on context, but the fixed translation selects “funny” in this sentence. Together, La bande-annonce a un peu de suspense says “The trailer has some suspense.” Mais contrasts that point with le film a quand même l'air drôle: despite the suspense, the film still looks funny. The complete meaning is: “The trailer has some suspense, but it still looks funny.”

8. Alors, il nous convient mieux qu'un thriller classique.

   Then it fits us better than a straight thriller.

   Alors

   then

   il nous convient

   it suits us

   mieux

   better

   qu'un

   than a

   thriller

   thriller

   classique

   straight; classic

   More detail

   Alors means “then” here and often introduces a conclusion or a choice that follows from what was just said. Example: Alors, on commence. — “Then, we’ll start.” il nous convient expresses that something suits us or is suitable for us. In this sentence, il refers to the film identified in the surrounding context and is the grammatical subject; nous means “to us” and is the indirect object of convenir. The verb is convenir à: convient is its present-tense third-person singular form. Example: Cette heure nous convient. — “This time suits us.” mieux is the comparative adverb “better.” It is the comparative form related to bien (“well”), not the adjective meilleur (“better” for a noun). The pattern convenir mieux means “suit [someone] better.” Example: Ce plan me convient mieux. — “This plan suits me better.” qu'un is the contracted form of que + un, used here in the comparison pattern “than a.” The comparison is completed by the noun phrase that follows it. un is the masculine singular indefinite article; in this sentence it does not by itself assert a numerical count. thriller is a masculine French noun, borrowed as a genre label, meaning “thriller.” In un thriller, the article and the adjective after it show its masculine singular grammatical treatment. Example: J'aime ce thriller. — “I like this thriller.” classique describes thriller and means “classic” or, in this context, “straight” in the sense of a conventional thriller. It is the masculine singular form agreeing with the masculine singular noun thriller; its spelling is also used with feminine singular nouns, while plural forms are classiques. Example: un roman classique — “a classic novel.” Together, il nous convient mieux means “it suits us better,” and qu'un thriller classique supplies the comparison: “than a straight thriller.” The whole utterance therefore means, “Then it fits us better than a straight thriller.”

9. Je vais réserver des places au milieu de la salle.

   I'll book seats in the middle row.

   Je vais

   I’m going to

   réserver

   book

   des places

   seats

   au milieu de

   in the middle of

   la salle

   the room

   More detail

   Je vais combines Je, the first-person singular subject “I,” with vais, the present-tense first-person singular form of aller (“to go”). Before an infinitive, aller + infinitive commonly expresses the near future: “be going to do.” Example: Je vais partir. — “I’m going to leave.” réserver is the infinitive “to book” or “to reserve.” It follows vais because the near-future construction uses the infinitive for the planned action. The same form can be used after other verbs or expressions that require an infinitive, for example: Nous voulons réserver. — “We want to book.” des places means “seats” here. places is the plural of the feminine noun place; in a booking context, place can mean a seat or a place/ticket for someone. des is a plural indefinite determiner: it indicates unspecified plural seats, not a particular stated number. Example: Ils ont réservé des places. — “They booked seats.” au milieu de is the location pattern “in the middle of.” au is the contraction of à (“at/in/to”) and le (“the”): à + le = au. The pattern can be reused with another noun, as in au milieu du parc — “in the middle of the park.” la salle means “the room,” “the hall,” or, in a venue context, “the auditorium.” salle is a feminine singular noun, so it appears with the feminine singular definite article la. Here it identifies the place whose middle contains the booked seats. The fixed English translation renders this seating location as “the middle row”; the French wording literally locates the seats in the middle of the hall/room rather than using a separate word for “row.” Together, Je vais réserver expresses “I’m going to book,” des places specifies that the booking concerns seats, and au milieu de la salle gives their location. The complete meaning is: “I’ll book seats in the middle row.”

10. Je pense que nous aimerons tous les deux celui-là.

    I think we'll both enjoy that one.

    pense

    think

    aimerons

    will enjoy

    tous les deux

    both of us

    celui-là

    that one

    More detail

    pense is the present-tense form of penser with je: je pense means “I think.” Here, que introduces the thought that follows. The reusable pattern is Je pense que + clause (“I think that …”). aimerons is the future form of aimer for nous: nous aimerons means “we will enjoy/like.” The ending -ons here is the future ending for nous; it is not the present form, which is nous aimons. Example: Nous aimerons ce film. — “We will enjoy this film.” tous les deux is a compact expression meaning “both of us” here. It indicates two people. The masculine form tous les deux can refer to two males or to a mixed-gender pair; for two females, French uses toutes les deux. This phrase does not identify who the two people are. celui-là is a masculine singular demonstrative pronoun meaning “that one.” It stands in for a masculine singular item rather than repeating its noun. celui means “the one,” while -là helps distinguish it as “that one.” The specific item is not named in the sentence. Together, Je pense que introduces the speaker’s opinion, nous aimerons says that the two people will enjoy something, and celui-là identifies that thing as “that one.” The complete meaning is: “I think we’ll both enjoy that one.”