The 't' in a sentence - French Language2024-03-28T10:48:52Zhttp://www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk/forum/topics/the-t-in-a-sentence?commentId=3179028%3AComment%3A91591&feed=yes&xn_auth=noHi Sarah--
Juts to expand on…tag:www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk,2012-07-27:3179028:Comment:921962012-07-27T16:17:18.973ZNeil Coffeyhttp://www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk/profile/NeilCoffey
Hi Sarah--<br />
<br />
Juts to expand on the information already provided by George and Christine.<br />
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The pattern is basically that whenever you use inversion, if you have a third person verb inverted with "il", "elle" or "on", the verb must end in a "t" sound.<br />
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With a form such as "perd-il" or "veut-elle", i.e. where the basic verb form aleady ends in a "d" or "t" in the spelling, there isn't a problem: the "d" and "t" are OK to represent a "t" sound when the verb and pronoun are inverted.<br />
<br />
But in a form…
Hi Sarah--<br />
<br />
Juts to expand on the information already provided by George and Christine.<br />
<br />
The pattern is basically that whenever you use inversion, if you have a third person verb inverted with "il", "elle" or "on", the verb must end in a "t" sound.<br />
<br />
With a form such as "perd-il" or "veut-elle", i.e. where the basic verb form aleady ends in a "d" or "t" in the spelling, there isn't a problem: the "d" and "t" are OK to represent a "t" sound when the verb and pronoun are inverted.<br />
<br />
But in a form such as "il donne" > "*donne-il", there's an issue because speakers in this case actually pronounce a "t" sound between the "donne" and the "il", as though the verb was "donnet-il". (Once upon a time, it actually was, but as the language has evolved, the "t" sound is now not generally pronounced on the end of a word, and so usually the written form is nowadays "donne": inversion is an exception.) Because the usual written verb form is "donne", not "donnet", in the spelling of the inverted form, something of a 'fudge' is used, and you write "donne-t-il".<br />
<br />
Basically, whenever the written form of the verb doesn't already end in a "t" or "d" and you invert it with "il", "elle" or "on", then you insert "-t-" between the verb and pronoun. This applies MAINLY to -er verbs, but also to a few irregulars as you see in your examples.<br />
<br />
The thing to understand is that it's just a spelling fudge: the "-t-" doesn't actually mean anything as such. You're welcome :-)
No, it's n…tag:www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk,2012-07-26:3179028:Comment:915912012-07-26T08:50:02.619ZChristinehttp://www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk/profile/ChristineGuinchard
<p>You're welcome :-)</p>
<p>No, it's not optional. Just know that this is more a written form, and not usually used when you speak. Orally, you'd probably hear: "Qu'est-ce qu'il y a sur la table?" and "Est-ce qu'il y a un cahier sur la table?", which mean exactly the same as "(Qu')y a-t-il...", but is more common in everyday speech.</p>
<p>You're welcome :-)</p>
<p>No, it's not optional. Just know that this is more a written form, and not usually used when you speak. Orally, you'd probably hear: "Qu'est-ce qu'il y a sur la table?" and "Est-ce qu'il y a un cahier sur la table?", which mean exactly the same as "(Qu')y a-t-il...", but is more common in everyday speech.</p> Thank you both for your repli…tag:www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk,2012-07-26:3179028:Comment:915872012-07-26T08:22:56.444ZSarahhttp://www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk/profile/Sarah911
<p>Thank you both for your replies. They are very helpful. But the 't' is not optional, is it?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Thank you both for your replies. They are very helpful. But the 't' is not optional, is it?</p>
<p>Thanks</p> George is right, the euphonic…tag:www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk,2012-07-26:3179028:Comment:916912012-07-26T06:09:58.649ZChristinehttp://www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk/profile/ChristineGuinchard
<p>George is right, the euphonic "t" is used just because it sounds better. Here's another forum's thread on the subject: <a href="http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=3669">http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=3669</a> </p>
<p>As he said, word-by-word is correct, but the meanings are, respectively, "What is (there) [on the table]?" and "Is there [...]?"</p>
<p>George is right, the euphonic "t" is used just because it sounds better. Here's another forum's thread on the subject: <a href="http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=3669">http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=3669</a> </p>
<p>As he said, word-by-word is correct, but the meanings are, respectively, "What is (there) [on the table]?" and "Is there [...]?"</p> I don't think it has a meanin…tag:www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk,2012-07-25:3179028:Comment:915812012-07-25T22:41:27.229ZGeorge Hunthttp://www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk/profile/GEORDIEHOUND
<p>I don't think it has a meaning as such.It is more a use.I think it allows you to use "a" before "il" more easily.</p>
<p>The word-by-word translations are correct but I assume you know that is not what the phrase actually means.</p>
<p>I don't think it has a meaning as such.It is more a use.I think it allows you to use "a" before "il" more easily.</p>
<p>The word-by-word translations are correct but I assume you know that is not what the phrase actually means.</p>