After les grandes vacances (the long summer holidays) comes la rentrée (literally, "the return") in France. It is a special time of year when students go back to school and workers go back to work in September. Indeed, the term extends to any sector of the economy resuming its normal activity after the long summer break. There is even la rentrée littéraire (the literary return) when new books come out! Because la rentrée covers such a variety of situations, the word does not translate easily, and it is a concept best grasped through examples in various contexts. 

Still, when talking about la rentrée, the French usually refer to la rentrée scolaire (back-to-school time), a topic that is on Sophie and Patrice’s minds in this video:

Donc, c'est la rentrée scolaire. -Ouais.

So, it's back-to-school time. -Yeah.

Caption 1, Sophie et Patrice La rentrée

 Play Caption

La rentrée also refers to “the start of the school year,” which can be an expensive time of year for parents…

Ah la rentrée, c'est toujours des dépenses.

Ah the start of the school year: it's always expenses.

Captions 2-3, Nader Fakhry L'école pour tous

 Play Caption

Alternatively, you could call la rentrée “the new school year”:

Au lycée Louis Blériot, Karen Montet-Toutain est la grande absente de cette rentrée.

At Louis Blériot High School, Karen Montet-Toutain is the great absentee of this new school year.

Caption 30, Le Journal La violence à l'école

 Play Caption

Alas, la rentrée spells the end of summer vacations not just for students, but also for everyone else. In this context, it's better translated as “the return from the summer holidays”:

C'est la rentrée

It's the return from the summer holidays

Caption 2, Sophie et Patrice La rentrée

 Play Caption

La rentrée is also the time when workers go “back to work” and maybe brag about their vacations, just like school kids. In the following video, Sara jokingly tells us that it is la rentrée des superstars (back to work for the superstars), presumably with their glowing tans:

C'est la rentrée des superstars.

It's back to work for the superstars.

Caption 8, Sara et Lionel Le bronzage

 Play Caption

In any case, la rentrée is a big deal in France. But for some people, like Alexandre, the prospect of going back to work is depressing:

Alors, je sais pas pour toi, mais moi, la rentrée... Ouais, ça m'a déprimé.

So, I don't know about you, but me, going back to work... Yeah, it's depressed me.

Captions 1-3, Sophie et Alexandre Et la rentrée ?

 Play Caption

On the other hand, Sophie has a more positive outlook on la rentrée. She sees “returning to work” as a chance to start afresh, a kind of revolution even: 

Mais la rentrée, c'est une révolution.

But returning to work is a revolution.

Caption 47, Sophie et Alexandre Et la rentrée ?

 Play Caption

In some cases, this very concise word needs to be turned into a full clause to convey the idea! 

Mais là, à la rentrée, faudra qu'on s'organise bien

But now, when we're back at work, we'll have to get organized

Caption 54, Elisa et Mashal Photos

 Play Caption

As people get organized for la rentrée, it is not uncommon to wish someone une bonne rentrée, “a good start to the work/school year." This greeting won't be necessary for Sophie, as she is already off to a great start:

Bon apparemment tu passes une très bonne rentrée

Well, apparently you're having a very good start to the work year

Caption 65, Sophie et Alexandre Et la rentrée ?

 Play Caption

To sum up, la rentrée conveys the idea of going back to school or work and also marks the start of a new school or work year. However, don’t forget that the word rentrée can be used in other ways besides what we just mentioned. For example, you can talk about une rentrée d’argent (money coming in):

Une rentrée d’argent imprévue serait la bienvenue après les grandes vacances.

A windfall would be welcome after the long summer holidays.

And finally, remember that rentrée (returned) is also the feminine singular past participle of rentrer (to return):

Non, elle est rentrée sans chanter.

No, she came in without singing [she didn't come in singing].

Caption 59, Le saviez-vous? Les différentes négations - Part 3

 Play Caption

Wishing our Yabla students une bonne rentrée! For more information on the cultural event of la rentrée, check out this article. Thank you for reading!

In our previous lesson on present participles, we discussed how they can be used as verbs or as adjectives. In this lesson, we’ll focus on present participles used as verbs, known as le gérondif.

banner PLACEHOLDER

Basically, the gérondif is the construction "en + present participle," as in en faisant (while doing). Like all present participles used as verbs, present participles in the gérondif don’t take agreement. 

In addition, the gérondif construction "en + present particple" never changes in French, but it will translate differently in English depending on context and function.

The gérondif usually indicates simultaneity and causation, and can be translated as "while x-ing," "by x-ing," or "as x."

When the gérondif is used to emphasize two actions taking place at about the same time, it usually translates as "while x-ing," as in en attendant (while waiting):

Bon... en attendant que notre pâte lève, on s'attaque au bredele?

Good... while waiting for our dough to rise, shall we tackle the bredele?

Caption 35, Alsace 20 - Grain de Sel: le Lycée hôtelier Alexandre Dumas

 Play Caption

En attendant can also be used on its own as an idiomatic expression ("in the meantime/meanwhile"):

En attendant, les communes doivent payer des ramassages quotidiens

In the meantime, towns must pay for daily collection

Caption 31, Le Journal - Marée verte en Bretagne

 Play Caption

The construction "en + present participle" can also be equivalent to "as + verb" in English when indicating simultaneity:

Mais... en partant, elle m'a donné son numéro de téléphone.

But... as she left, she gave me her phone number.

Captions 35-36, Extr@ - Ep. 6 - Le jour du loto - Part 3

 Play Caption

To further emphasize simultaneity between two actions or to indicate opposing actions in French, you can use the construction "tout en + present participle" (all while x-ing), as in tout en parlant (all while speaking). This construction is especially useful when you're talking about multitasking:

Je joue sur mon téléphone et parle avec mes amis tout en regardant la télé.

I play on my phone and talk to my friends, all while watching TV.

The gérondif can also indicate a means to achieve something, equivalent to the construction "by x-ing" in English:

Parents, veuillez surveiller bien vos enfants en leur apprenant à respecter les animaux.

Parents, please supervise your children well by teaching them to respect the animals.

Caption 12, Voyage en France - Chantilly - Part 3

 Play Caption

The gérondif can also describe the way an action is performed:

Est-elle rentrée en chantant?

Did she come in singing?

Caption 58, Le saviez-vous? - Les différentes négations - Part 3

 Play Caption

Here, the translation is straightforward. En chantant simply means "singing."

However, when that sentence is put in the negative form, you must use the infinitive and not the present participle. As Patricia explains in her video, en chantant (singing) becomes sans chanter (without singing). The preposition sans (without) must be followed by the infinitive:

Non, elle est rentrée sans chanter.

No, she came in without singing [she didn't come in singing].

Caption 59, Le saviez-vous? - Les différentes négations - Part 3

 Play Caption

The present participle is much more prevalent in English, whereas French favors the infinitive instead. In English you can follow a conjugated verb by an infinitive or a present participle. In French, it’s preferable to use the infinitive. For example, when talking about something you like doing or like to do, you cannot say j’aime faisant (I like doing). You have to say j’aime faire (I like to do):

J’aime faire des dessins.

I like drawing./I like to draw. 

Similarly, when a person witnesses someone doing something, it’s better to use the infinitive after a conjugated verb:

Je les ai vues chanter.

I saw them sing./I saw them singing. 

Another word of caution: the present participle is never used to form a progressive tense, simply because there is no such tense in French. You must use the present indicative instead. For example, "I am thinking" (present progressive) and "I think" (present indicative) both translate as je pense.

The construction je suis pensant, the literal translation of "I am thinking," simply does not exist! The only option is the present indicative: je pense (I think).

If you really want to emphasize an action in progress in French, you can use the expression être en train de (to be in the process/in the middle of):

On est en train de réchauffer la pâte en fin de compte.

We are in the process of warming up the dough in the end.

Caption 12, Cap 24 Alessandro di Sarno se met au point de croix

 Play Caption

To sum up, French uses the infinitive in many instances where English uses the present participle, and the gérondif construction "en + present participle" can take various forms in English. 

There you have it for present participles! En passant (incidentally), we hope this lesson will be useful to you!

There are three different ways of saying "sometimes" in French, and they all have one thing in common: the word fois (time).

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

The first is quelquefois, which literally means "sometimes" (quelque = some; fois = times). Note that quelquefois is written as one word, like "sometimes," but unlike other quelque words such as quelque chose (something) and quelque part (somewhere):

Quelquefois, vous allez voir des produits qui ne correspondent pas à cette recette.

Sometimes, you'll see products that don't correspond to this recipe.

Caption 38, Le saviez-vous? - La Maison de l'Olive à Nice

 Play Caption

Then there's parfois (par = by, through, per; fois = times):

Je vais parfois au cinéma.

I sometimes go to the movies.

Caption 25, Le saviez-vous? - Les différentes négations

 Play Caption

Finally, there's des fois (literally "some times" or just "times"), which is a bit more familiar. It roughly corresponds to the English expression "at times": 

Je me force un peu des fois

I force myself a bit sometimes (at times)

à sortir de ma zone de confort.

to get out of my comfort zone.

Captions 46-47, Giulia - Sa marque de bijoux 'Desidero'

 Play Caption

There are a couple other ways of saying "sometimes" in French that use the other word for "time," temps. These are de temps en temps and de temps à autre, which both mean "from time to time," "every now and then," "once in a while," "occasionally":

Peut-être que vous sentez les odeurs qui sortent des studios de temps en temps.

Maybe you smell the aromas that come out of the studios from time to time.

Caption 10, 4 Mains pour 1 Piano - Médaillon de Homard

 Play Caption

Je parle à mes amis d'université de temps à autre.

I talk to my college friends every now and then.

Just don't confuse any of these with the expressions for "sometime" and "some time." "Sometime" (meaning "eventually" or "at a later time") is un de ces jours (one of these days) or un jour ou l'autre (one day or another). And "some time" (meaning "a while") is quelque temps:

Un jour ou l'autre (Un de ces jours) on sera tous papa

One day or another we'll all be a dad (We'll all be a dad sometime)

Caption 28, Stromae - Papaoutai

 Play Caption

Et puis après, j'ai été célibataire quelque temps.

And then after that, I was single for a while (for some time).

Caption 26, Le Journal - L'âge et la fertilité

 Play Caption

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Thanks for reading! Tweet us @yabla or send your topic suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.