Questions & Answers about Elle se promène vers la boutique avec sa liste.
Why is there a grave accent in promène when the infinitive is se promener?
Se promener is a stem-changing verb. When the ending is silent (like the -e in elle se promène), the unaccented e in the stem changes to è. This changes the pronunciation from a weak "uh" sound to a clear "eh" sound. This spelling change happens with all subject pronouns except nous and vous. Why do we need the pronoun se here? Can't we just say Elle promène?
In French, to say "to take a walk" or "to stroll," you must use the reflexive verb se promener (which literally means "to walk oneself"). If you leave out the se and just use promener, it means to walk something else, like a dog (elle promène son chien). Why use vers instead of à?
Vers specifically means "towards" or "in the direction of." If you used à (as in à la boutique), it would mean she is going to the boutique as her definite destination. Vers just tells us which way she is heading. Does sa in sa liste agree with Elle (she) or liste (list)?
It agrees with liste. A common trap for English speakers is to match the possessive word to the owner, but in French, it always matches the gender and number of the thing being owned. Since liste is feminine and singular, we use sa. Learn Elle se promène vers la boutique avec sa liste and more in French
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