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WHY? ... "Pourquoi a-t-elle beaucoup des chiens?"
"Pourquoi a-t-elle beaucoup des chiens?"
Hi
I understand pretty much the question and the structure.
The thing that i don't really get is the "t" and this "-" symbol seems to be
quite often used in questions, do you as a native french speaker use this symbol?
How often? When to use it?
Have an excellent day :D
Jan 26, 2017 9:12 PM
Answers · 8
3
Hello !
We use -t- only in questions between the verb and the singular pronouns "il" and "elle" when the preceding verb ends in a vowel. This extra -t- has no special meaning. It is added "for the ear" to avoid two vocal sounds in a row, which we perceive as not beautiful. It also allows in a way to better separate verb and pronoun.
Vient-il ?
Veut-elle ?
Prend-il ?
--> No extra -t- between verbs and pronouns, because verbs already end in a consonant.
Mange-t-il ?
Maman donne-t-elle... ?
--> Extra -t- because the verb does not end in a consonant. In this case, -t- is mandatory. Donne-elle* would be incorrect.
Hope it helped!
January 26, 2017
1
hello,
by the way the question is not "pourquoi as-t-elle beaucoup des chiens?" mais "pourquoi as-t-elle beaucoup DE chiens", i'm sorry, I can't explain you right now the reason but it's like that
January 28, 2017
1
Hi Edgar,
I'm French and I hope that my message will help you. As in English, there is a subject and verbe inversion in French for questions. "A" in your sentence correspond to the verbe have, "avoir" in French. The subject inversion is mandatory. Maybe a couple of example could help you to understand:
How old are you? Quel âge as-tu?
How old is she? Quel âge a-t-elle?
How are you? Comment vas-tu?
How is she? Comment va-t-elle?
Where do you come from? D'où viens-tu?
Where does he come from? D'où vient-il?
Ask me if it is not clear for you. Have a good day!
January 26, 2017
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English, Spanish
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