Breakdown of Le voisin s'appelle Thomas.
Questions & Answers about Le voisin s'appelle Thomas.
What does the s' in s'appelle mean?
It is a reflexive pronoun. The verb for stating a name is s'appeler, which literally means "to call oneself". Because le voisin (the neighbor) acts as "he" (il), the pronoun is se (himself). Since appelle starts with a vowel, se drops its 'e' and shortens to s'. Why is appelle spelled with a double L?
The verb s'appeler has a spelling quirk. The 'l' is doubled for most subjects (je, tu, il/elle, ils/elles) to change how the word sounds. It only keeps a single 'l' for nous and vous (for example, nous nous appelons). Since le voisin represents a third-person singular subject, it gets the double L. How would this sentence change if the neighbor were a woman?
The masculine le voisin would become the feminine la voisine. The verb s'appelle would stay exactly the same, as the il (he) and elle (she) forms share the same conjugation. So, you would say: La voisine s'appelle... (followed by her name). Can I translate "is called" directly as est appelé?
It is highly unnatural in French. To give someone's name, you must use the reflexive verb s'appeler (to call oneself). Saying Le voisin est appelé Thomas sounds more like he is being summoned by someone, rather than stating his name. Learn Le voisin s'appelle Thomas and more in French
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