about this sentence?

Question

"tu n'écoutes pas Alice" sounds like Alice is the one who isn't listening

Cécile Janty-Davies · Accepted Answer

Hi Hajra, 
I am with Alan on this one, it is always interesting when students point out these queries, that we, natives don't always see.
But it is to do with punctuation, I am afraid 
Tu n'écoutes pas Alice = You are not listening to  Alice 
 is a statement where 'tu' is the subject and 'Alice' is the direct object .
 
But in the following sentence -
Tu n'écoutes pas, Alice ! = You are not listening, Alice !
it would be a reprimand meaning-
'pay attention, Alice! 
Hope this helps!

Maarten Kamp · Answer

Deleted. No longer relevant.

Jim Jones · Answer

Hi Hajra,The object of the sentence is Alice and the subject is Tu (subject pronoun).Maarten is quite right, you are not understanding the basic grammar.Jim

Alan Graham · Answer

These comments sound a bit harsh to me. You could just have pointed out that ecouter takes a direct object and doesn't require a preposition, as in English.

Suppose you inserted a comma before "Alice", what then? Or would you always put "Alice" at the start of the sentence?

Jim Jones · Answer

Hi Alan,Yes! Cécile and you are right, I should have cut an entry-level student a bit more slack on this query.Jim