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I'm learning French and need help with these words or linking terms whatever they are called.

There is qu'il = that he or that it in english?
Then a-t-il =

Thanks.

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These are, in fact, not single words; each is a compound of two words
joined together to make pronunciation easier. When two vowels come
back-to-back in consecutive words pronunciation can be awkward.

1] qu'il is a compound of que il = that he/it.
This is called elision. The -e is removed and replaced
with an apostrophe. It is not limited to que, several short words
(ce, de, le, la, je, me, etc.) can be affected.
It is pronounced as one syllable (kil).
nb. que of course, can also mean than, what, who, which, etc.

2] a-t-il is a compound of a il = has he/it...?
This is a result of subject-verb inversion, wherein a statement can be
converted into a question. When used with a 3rd person verb form, the verb
must end in -t or -d. If it doesn't, a -t- is inserted for no other
reason than ease of pronunciation. It is pronounced as two syllables (at-il).
A-t-il is Does he or it have. The t is called t euphonique and serves NO grammatical purpose other than avoiding hiatus could you imagine saying A .. il that would be almost impossible to pronounce that is why we put a t there to soften the pronunciation.

The t euphonique is not to be confused with the t' (t apostrophe) that is used as a short for "te" complicated I know.

A-t-il fait son devoir? Has he finished his assignement yet?

Tamy
D'accord, I understand the meaning of it, now can you explain how to use it in a sentence?

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