Look at these sentences:
Jean et moi sommes allés au cinéma.
Jean and I went to the cinema.
Sarah et ma soeur sont allées à la plage.
Sarah and my sister went to the beach.
M. Dupont et Mme Vichy vont au bureau.
Mr Dupont and Mrs Vichy are going to the office.
Louise et toi êtes allés au cinéma
Louise and you went to the cinema.
Lucie et moi allons au cinéma tous les mercredis.
Lucie and I go to the cinema every Wednesday.
Notice that when more than one person is the subject of a verb (does the action), that verb conjugates in one of the three plural forms in French (nous, vous, ils / elles).
[ person(s) + person(s) = ils or elles
person(s) + toi = vous
person(s) + moi = nous ]
Louise et toi êtes allés au cinéma
Louise and you went to the cinema.
Lucie et moi allons au cinéma tous les mercredis.
Lucie and I go to the cinema every Wednesday.
Jean et moi sommes allés au cinéma.
Jean and I went to the cinema.
Sarah et ma soeur sont allées à la plage.
Sarah and my sister went to the beach.
M. Dupont et Mme Vichy vont au bureau.
Mr Dupont and Mrs Vichy are going to the office.
It seems like you are trying to explain two concepts, but aren't explicit about it.First compound subjects take plural verb forms: Sarah et ma soeur sont allées à la plage.
Second the subject pronoun changes form from its singular usage:
je --> moi
tu --> toi
It seems like you are trying to explain two concepts, but aren't explicit about it.First compound subjects take plural verb forms: Sarah et ma soeur sont allées à la plage.
Second the subject pronoun changes form from its singular usage:
je --> moi
tu --> toi
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In "M. Dupont et Mme Vichy vont au bureau." above, it sounds like M. is just being pronounced as the letter M and not as monsieur but Mme is pronounced as madame. Is that really how this would be said aloud? Also, is it correct that the M. has a period to denote abbreviation but the Mme does not? Is there a rule to help explain this?
Bonjour Melisa !
First, yes M. needs the period to make it clear that it's the abbreviation of "Monsieur" and not just the letter M, where Mme is obvious enough not to necessitate this :)
As for the audio file, it was an error, and thanks to you, I've now fixed it to read "Monsieur" as it should!
Merci et à bientôt !
Thank you! The audio files for every example are one of the most helpful features of this site.
In "M. Dupont et Mme Vichy vont au bureau." above, it sounds like M. is just being pronounced as the letter M and not as monsieur but Mme is pronounced as madame. Is that really how this would be said aloud? Also, is it correct that the M. has a period to denote abbreviation but the Mme does not? Is there a rule to help explain this?
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I'm a bit confused as to whether to use Tout le monde as a singular or plural word:
"Tout le monde va dormir"
"Tout le monde vont dormir"
I'm a bit confused as to whether to use Tout le monde as a singular or plural word:
"Tout le monde va dormir"
"Tout le monde vont dormir"
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"Bonjour
Can you please clarify for me why the answer on 1 of the questions - see below - contains "de" before the adjective and noun?
"Ta soeur et ses amis ont de jolies poupées."
I would have expected "des" because "poupées" is plural.
Hi abt,
it is a little rule of grammar that when the adjective precedes the noun 'des' will become 'de',
e.g.
J'ai de belles chaussures de randonnée = I have great walking boots
Il a besoin de nouvelles lunettes = He needs new glasses
Ils ont de très bonnes notes à l'école = They have very good marks at school
Je vous souhaite de bonnes vacances! = I wish you a good holiday!
Hope this helps!
"Bonjour
Can you please clarify for me why the answer on 1 of the questions - see below - contains "de" before the adjective and noun?
"Ta soeur et ses amis ont de jolies poupées."
I would have expected "des" because "poupées" is plural.
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Hi Flóra,
In the sentence you suggest, it would be correct if you add a 'vous'.
Tes amis et toi, vous jouez au football?
In 'toi et tes amis jouent au football' the subject becomes multiple persons and the 'toi' is lost among them as it is at the beginning of the sentence.
Hope this helps!
Yes, I would have thought so, too. Why do you think this is wrong?
-- Chris.
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Let me try to clarify:
We meet Mondays. -- On se rencontre le lundi.
In examples like this, where you would use the weekday in its plural form in English, you simply use the definite article and singular in French.
However, if you wanted to say:
We meet every Monday. -- On se rencontre tous les lundis. Or: ....chaque lundi.
So, apparently, the plural version of weekdays does exist but you use it differently than in English. When you would say "every Monday" in English, you can say "all Mondays" in French and use the plural.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
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