Learn French: Pourquoi est-ce que tu vas les jeter ? Parce que ces jouets sont vieux. - Why are you going to throw them away? Because these toys are old.

Pourquoi est-ce que tu vas les jeter ? Parce que ces jouets sont vieux.

Why are you going to throw them away? Because these toys are old.

Breakdown of Pourquoi est-ce que tu vas les jeter ? Parce que ces jouets sont vieux.

être

to be

you (informal singular)

this (before a noun)

est-ce que

is it that / do / does (question marker)

Questions & Answers about Pourquoi est-ce que tu vas les jeter ? Parce que ces jouets sont vieux.

Why is les placed right before jeter instead of after it?

In French, direct object pronouns like les (them) almost always go before the verb, unlike in English. So instead of "throw them", you say "them throw" (les jeter).

Why is les placed after vas rather than at the very beginning of the sentence?

When you have two verbs—like vas (are going) and jeter (to throw)—the pronoun goes immediately before the verb it is actually connected to. Since you are throwing them away, les goes right before jeter.

What is the difference between Pourquoi and Parce que?

Pourquoi means "Why" and is used to ask questions. Parce que means "Because" and is used to answer them. They look and sound a bit similar, so they are easy to mix up!

Why doesn't vieux get an extra "s" at the end since ces jouets is plural?

The masculine singular word for "old" is vieux, which already ends in an "x". In French, if a word already ends in -s, -x, or -z, you don't add another -s to make it plural. The spelling stays exactly the same.