"Does the man speak?"

Translation: L'homme parle-t-il ?

[DemiReticent]

Well I wrote "Parle-t-il?" because I thought "he" would be sufficient for indicating a man... but understandable mistake I guess.

[Sitesurf]

What you did was an adaptation, not a translation. However, your proposal is perfectly correct, grammatically speaking.

[melsin]

why not le homme"? is it always l'homme?

[__1]

Yes. If le(la) is followed by a vowel or h muet drops the vowel and contract with the second word = l'.

[tom9358]

What's wrong with "Est-ce que l'homme dire?"

[Sitesurf]

"dire" is "to say". In French as in English, these verbs need an object: "dire quelque chose" = "say something".

So, "does the man speak" is "est-ce que l'homme parle ?" or "l'homme parle-t-il ?" or (oral/familiar) "l'homme parle ?".

[antoineduolingo]

l'homme dit

[Sitesurf]

l'homme dit (quelque chose) = the man says (something)

[melsin]

why isn't that "the man speaks"? how is that a question?

[Sitesurf]

In English, the way to as questions is to use auxiliary "do" + subject + verb + question mark.

The form "the man speaks?" is informal but not quite correct.

[bngmaildotcom]

I wrote "Parle l'homme"
Why is that incorrect? :(

[Sitesurf]

3 possibilities to ask a question in French, from very formal to casual:

• l'homme parle-t-il ?
• est-ce que l'homme parle ?
• l'homme parle ?

[bngmaildotcom]

Okay :/
I guess parle is always at the end

Thank you for the reply!

[jeffers86]

There is also subject-verb inversion in French, so "Parle l'homme?" should be correct (although it might not work with every verb?)

[Sitesurf]

3 possibilities to ask a question in French, from very formal to casual:

• l'homme parle-t-il ?
• est-ce que l'homme parle ?
• l'homme parle ?

[cjchem]

I have the same question as jeffers86. In earlier lessons questions definitely could have the verb first - "Court-il ?" Why does that not work here?

[Sitesurf]

Because the subject is not a pronoun (like "il") but a noun (homme)

[cjchem]

Thanks, Sitesurf. That makes sense, now that I know!

[kathryn.ba1]

I tried "L'homme, fait-il parle?"... Would this not make sense?

[Sitesurf]

No, it does not make sense.

[brandir17]

what does the t mean inbetween speak and he??

[Sitesurf]

It is used to ease pronunciation (avoid vowel conflict) and you will find it every time the verbal form ends with a vowel and the pronoun starts with a vowel as well:

parle-t-il ?

où va-t-on ?

qui aime-t-elle ?

quand sera-t-il là ? (futur tense)