Question 1

Why is "met" translated as two words, ont rencontré?

Accepted Answer

In French, the most common past tense is the passé composé (composed past). It is built using two parts: a helper verb (here, ont, which is avoir for elles) and a past participle. For regular verbs ending in -er like rencontrer (to meet), you drop the -er and add -é to get the past participle rencontré.

Question 2

Since Elles is feminine plural, shouldn't rencontré have an extra "e" and "s" at the end?

Accepted Answer

No, and this is a great rule to remember! When the past tense uses the helper verb avoir (to have), the past participle (rencontré) normally does not change to match the subject. It stays exactly the same whether the subject is masculine, feminine, singular, or plural.

Question 3

How does the word avant-hier work?

Accepted Answer

Avant-hier means "the day before yesterday." It is simply made up of two smaller words combined with a hyphen: avant (before) and hier (yesterday). Literally, it translates to "before-yesterday."

Question 4

How do you pronounce Elles ont and un ami? Do the words run together?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Both of these pairs have a mandatory "liaison" (a linking sound). The silent "s" in Elles connects to the "o" in ont, making a "z" sound: "Ellz-on". Similarly, the "n" in un connects to the "a" in ami, making an "n" sound: "uh-nah-mee".

Elles ont rencontré un ami avant-hier.

Breakdown of Elles ont rencontré un ami avant-hier.

Questions & Answers about Elles ont rencontré un ami avant-hier.

Learn Elles ont rencontré un ami avant-hier and more in French