#mr.moderino

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candid sandalBOT
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Please be patient

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lone grail
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"Au" is used instead of "à" because "travail" is a masculine singular noun. In French, "à" + "le" (the masculine definite article) contracts to form "au." Therefore "il va au travail" means "he goes to work," with "au" being the correct contraction for "à le" blobcafe

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In French "travail" needs the article "le" (contracted to "au") because French typically uses articles before nouns, even when English does not. This indicates a specific or general place or concept, as in "going to work" (à + le travail = au travail)

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It’s à la boulangerie because boulangerie is a feminine noun, if it were a masculine noun we’d say "au boulangerie" like you said.

  • école is a feminine noun but we say "à l’" because it’s a singular noun starting with a vowel sound. "à l’" works for both singular masculine and feminine nouns as long as they start with a vowel sound.
    à l’église = at church
    à l’hôpital = at the hospital (the h is a vowel sound in French)
    à l’université = at university
  • travail is a masculine noun that doesn’t start with a vowel sound so we say "au"
  • boulangerie is a feminine noun that doesn’t start with a vowel sound so we don’t say "au" or "à l’", we say "à la" blobcafe