| They laughed until their mom told them to go to bed. | Ils ont rigolé jusqu’à ce que leur maman leur dise de se coucher. |
Comparing French and English Sentence Structure
It can be interesting to look at French sentences and their English translations while comparing the two. Once you have identified corresponding words, you will realize how many similarities there are French and English. You’ll also notice some big differences, and those are worth examining more closely.
Ils = They
Ils is a third person plural pronoun that means they. Ils can refer either to a mixed or all masculine group.
Lesson: French subject pronouns
ont rigolé = laughed
ONT is the third person plural conjugation of the verb avoir in the present tense. In this sentence, it is the helping verb for the verb RIGOLER – past participle RIGOLÉ. The tense is the passé composé, which is used to talk about something that happened or was completed at some point in the past.
jusqu’à ce que = until
Jusqu’à means until, but when it is followed by another subject, leur maman in this sentence, you need to add ce que and use the subjunctive. Jusqu’à ce que is a subordinating conjunction.
Exercise: Subordinating conjunctions with the subjunctive
List: Subordinating conjunctions list
Lesson: Jusqu’à ce que, Dès que, Depuis que
Lesson: Jusqu’à ce que + subjunctive
Lesson: French subjunctive mood
leur maman = their mom
In this part of the sentence, LEUR is a possessive adjective which means their. LEUR is used for both masculine and feminine singular nouns, in this case MAMAN, which is feminine.
leur = them
This time, LEUR is an indirect object pronoun which means them. Notice that in French, pronouns are placed before helping verbs in the passé composé. It can be confusing, because leur maman has a completely different function. Be sure to check out my lesson on indirect object pronouns if you find this difficult to understand.
Lesson: Indirect and direct object pronouns
dise = told
Dise is the third person singular conjugation of the verb dire in the present subjunctive. Remember to always use the subjunctive after jusqu’à ce que. The present subjunctive is applicable in this sentence because it begins in the passé composé: Ils ont rigolé.
Chart: Present subjunctive endings
de = this is an extra word that we don’t need in English
The verb dire requires de when it is followed by an infinitive, in this sentence that is se coucher. No word is necessary in English, but it’s very important in French. Check out my list of verbs that are followed by de + infinitive.
List: French verbs followed by de + infinitive
se coucher = to go to bed
Se coucher is a reflexive verb. This means that the action is something people do to themselves.