Learn French: Vous choisissez des chaussures différentes ?

Vous choisissez des chaussures différentes ?

Are you choosing different shoes?

Breakdown of Vous choisissez des chaussures différentes ?

vous

you (plural/formal)

des

some (plural indefinite)

Questions & Answers about Vous choisissez des chaussures différentes ?

Why does the verb choisissez have that -iss- in the middle?

Choisissez comes from the regular -ir verb choisir (to choose). For plural subjects like nous, vous, and ils / elles, regular -ir verbs add an -iss- before the final ending. So, to conjugate for vous, you drop the -ir and add -issez.

Why do we use des here instead of les?

Des is the plural indefinite article (the plural of un or une). It acts like the English word "some". We use it here because you are asking about choosing any different shoes, not specific ones. While English usually drops the word "some" in a sentence like this, French always requires an article before a noun.

Why does différentes have an -es at the end?

In French, adjectives must match the gender and number of the noun they describe. The noun chaussures is feminine and plural. The base adjective is différent, so we add an -e to make it feminine, and an -s to make it plural, resulting in différentes.

Why is différentes placed after chaussures?