Learn French: Ils ont un appartement moderne ici. - They have a modern apartment here.

Ils ont un appartement moderne ici.

They have a modern apartment here.

Breakdown of Ils ont un appartement moderne ici.

they (masculine/mixed)

avoir

to have

Questions & Answers about Ils ont un appartement moderne ici.

Why do we use ont here instead of a?

ont is the 'they' form of the verb avoir (to have). Since the subject is ils (they, masculine), we must use the matching plural form ont. If the sentence was 'he has', you would use il a.

How is ils ont pronounced?

Normally the 's' in ils is silent. However, because ont starts with a vowel, the 's' links to it and makes a 'z' sound. This linking is called a liaison. This 'z' sound is crucial because it helps you tell ils ont (they have) apart from ils sont (they are), which uses an 's' sound.

Why is it appartement moderne instead of moderne appartement?

In French, most describing words (adjectives) are placed directly after the noun they describe. Instead of 'modern apartment', you say 'apartment modern'.

Since un appartement is masculine, why does moderne have an 'e' at the end?

The word moderne naturally ends in an 'e' in its basic masculine dictionary form. When an adjective already ends in an unaccented 'e', you do not add another one for feminine words. It simply stays exactly the same for both masculine and feminine.