I have a question about the pronunciation on the conjugation page of the verb étudier, I looked it up to understand the difference between present and imperfect of the nous and vous forms.
I found that it gives je étudie rather than j’étudie and that the il and on forms of "étudiait" are pronounced differently from "elle étudiait". Is this correct?
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/verbs/etudier
Hi Both,
I do agree that the audio is not brilliant, we are using a superior system nowadays and maybe it will have to be re-recorded at some point.
To answer your question Ann, I can actually hear the extra -i of the imperfect in the nous and vous form but it might actually disappear in spoken French by just adding a bit more stress on the -i.
Je étudie is wrong as you rightly say it should be -
J'étudie
Hope this helps!
Just a quick reply from a non-native speaker, until Cécile adds her reply:
The present and imperfect forms of 1st/2nd person plural of étudier are the same: étudions/étudiez. There is no difference in pronunciation between present and imperfect use. And the first person singular uses a liaison: j'étudie. Étudiait should be pronounced the same, regardless of il/elle/on.
Thanks, I guessed it might be an audio glitch. The imperfect "nous" and "vous" forms are spelt with double ii in the table.
Bonjour Chris !
Actually, just to stress that there is indeed a slight difference in pronunciation between le Présent nous étudions et l'Imparfait nous étudiions, like Cécile said, as a slight emphasis on the "i".
I'd actually say this is one of those extra subtle distinctions that will make you realise you've reached another level in your mastery of French language ;)
Bonne journée !
Bonjour Aurélie,
Isn't the point that in étudions the "i" is not actually pronounced as an "i" at all, instead it becomes like "yon", but in étudiions you will hear an "i" and then the "yon"?
étudions /e.ty.djɔ̃/
étudiions /e.ty.di.jɔ̃/
Actually, I find it quite easy to tell the difference in this case, perhaps because there's an extra syllable. Maybe it would be different if the speakers were not being careful, but it's quite clear here:
https://forvo.com/word/%C3%A9tudiions/
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Test your French to the CEFR standard
Find your French level