Learn French: Nous avons fait un grand effort.

Nous avons fait un grand effort.

We made a great effort.

Breakdown of Nous avons fait un grand effort.

grand

big / tall

nous

we / us (object pronoun)

Questions & Answers about Nous avons fait un grand effort.

Why does the sentence use fait to mean "made"?

Fait is the irregular past participle of the verb faire, which means both "to do" and "to make". To talk about the past, we combine the helping verb avoir (nous avons) with this past participle: nous avons fait.

Does avons fait mean "we made" or "we have made"?

It can mean both! French usually uses this one past tense, the passé composé (nous avons fait), for both "we made" (a simple completed action) and "we have made". You just choose the English translation that sounds best in context.

Why does the adjective grand come before effort? I thought French adjectives usually go after the noun.

Most French adjectives do go after the noun, but a small group of common, short adjectives go before it. A popular memory trick for these is "BANGS" (Beauty, Age, Number, Goodness, Size). Since grand (big/great) describes Size or Goodness, it is placed before effort.

Is there a linking sound between grand and effort when spoken?

Yes! Because effort starts with a vowel sound, you make a liaison (a linked sound) between the two words. The d at the end of grand connects to the e in effort, but it actually makes a "t" sound when spoken: "gran-teffort".