Learn French: Nous sommes des hommes forts.

Nous sommes des hommes forts.

We are strong men.

Breakdown of Nous sommes des hommes forts.

we / us (object pronoun)

Questions & Answers about Nous sommes des hommes forts.

Is sommes the only word I can use for "are" with nous?

Yes! Sommes is the specific form of the verb être (to be) that matches the plural pronoun nous (we). They are a package deal: nous sommes always goes together to mean "we are".

Why does the French sentence use des when the English translation just says "men"?

In French, you cannot usually put a noun all by itself. Plural nouns need the plural article des (which is the plural of un or une). Even though we skip the article in English and just say "men", French requires des hommes (literally "some men").

Why does forts come after hommes, and why does it have an 's' at the end?

In French, most descriptive adjectives like fort (strong) are placed after the noun they describe, not before it like in English. Also, adjectives must "agree" with their noun. Since hommes is plural, we add an 's' to fort to make it forts.

How do I pronounce des hommes? Do I say the 's' in des?

Yes, but it sounds like a 'z'. Normally, the 's' at the end of des is completely silent. However, because hommes starts with a silent 'h' (which acts just like a vowel), the 's' from des links into it. This linking is called a liaison, making the phrase sound like "dez-ohm".