Learn French: Les étudiants font un devoir difficile. - The students are doing a difficult assignment.

Les étudiants font un devoir difficile.

The students are doing a difficult assignment.

Breakdown of Les étudiants font un devoir difficile.

Questions & Answers about Les étudiants font un devoir difficile.

Why is the verb font instead of ending in '-ent' like regular verbs?

Font is the 'they' (third-person plural) form of the irregular verb faire (to do / to make). Because it is irregular, it doesn't follow the normal pattern you see in regular verbs. You just have to memorize that ils/elles font means 'they do' or 'they are doing'.

The translation says 'are doing'. Is there a specific way to say 'are doing' instead of just 'do' in French?

In French, the present tense covers both! Les étudiants font can mean 'The students do' or 'The students are doing' depending on the context. French doesn't have a separate 'is/are + -ing' tense like English does.

I learned that devoir is a verb meaning 'must'. Why is it used as 'assignment' here?

Devoir can be both a verb (to have to / must) and a noun (a duty / an assignment / a piece of homework). You can tell it is a noun here because it has the article un (a/an) right in front of it.

Why is the adjective difficile placed after devoir?

In French, most adjectives come after the noun they describe, unlike in English where they come before. So, instead of saying 'a difficult assignment', you say un devoir difficile (an assignment difficult).

Do I pronounce the 's' at the end of Les in this sentence?