Comparing French and English Sentence Structure
| We will have quickly answered the question. | Nous aurons vite répondu à la question. |
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.
Nous = We
Nous is a first person plural subject pronoun that means we.
Lesson: French subject pronouns
aurons = will have
Aurons is the first person plural futur simple form of the verb avoir. In this sentence, aurons is the helping verb for the verb répondre in the futur antérieur.
Lesson: Le futur antérieur
Lesson: Le futur simple
vite = quickly
Vite is a short, common adverb. Notice that in compound structures such as the futur antérieur, the adverb is placed after the first conjugated verb, which is the helping verb aurons.
Lesson: French adverbs
répondu = answered
Répondu is the past participle of the verb répondre, a regular verb ending in -DRE which means to respond or to answer.
Lesson: Regular verbs ending in DRE
à
In English, we don’t need an extra word after to answer, but in French the preposition à is necessary after répondre when it is followed by a noun.
Lesson: French verbs followed by à + noun
la question = the question
La is the definite article (noun marker) used for feminine, singular nouns. The word question is feminine.
Lesson: French articles
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