Question 1

Why does parce que change to parce qu' in the answer?

Accepted Answer

In French, when que is followed by a word starting with a vowel (like il), the e is dropped and replaced with an apostrophe. This prevents two vowels from clashing and makes it flow better when speaking. So, parce que il always becomes parce qu'il.

Question 2

Why is there an est-ce qu' after pourquoi?

Accepted Answer

Est-ce que (literally "is it that") is a very common way to form a question in French. To ask "why", you simply put the question word pourquoi right in front of it: Pourquoi est-ce qu'il... (Why is it that he...). Notice that que becomes qu' here as well, because the next word (il) starts with a vowel!

Question 3

The English translation says "is canceling", so why isn't there a word for "is" in the French sentence?

Accepted Answer

French doesn't have a direct equivalent to the English "-ing" form (present continuous). The simple present tense il annule translates to both "he cancels" and "he is canceling". If you tried to literally translate word-for-word and say il est annule, it would sound like "he is canceled" to a French speaker!

Question 4

Can I just answer with Il est malade without saying Parce qu'?

Accepted Answer

In casual conversation, you could leave it out, just like in English you might reply "He's sick" instead of "Because he's sick." However, using parce que clearly connects your reason back to the pourquoi (why) in the question, which is exactly how you express cause and effect in French.

Pourquoi est-ce qu'il annule le rendez-vous ? Parce qu'il est malade.

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