Ils jettent ce vieux carton.

Questions & Answers about Ils jettent ce vieux carton.

Why does jettent have two 't's when the infinitive jeter only has one?
Jeter is a stem-changing verb. In the present tense, we double the t for all forms except nous and vous. We do this to change the pronunciation of the e just before it. With one t, it sounds like the weak "uh" in le. With two ts (ils jettent), it makes an "eh" sound, similar to the English word "jet".
Do I pronounce the -ent ending in jettent?
No, the -ent ending on third-person plural verbs (like ils jettent or elles parlent) is completely silent. You just pronounce it like "jett".
Why does vieux come before carton instead of after it?
Most French adjectives go after the noun, but vieux (old) is a common exception. It follows the "BANGS" (or "BAGS") rule, which stands for Beauty, Age, Number, Goodness, and Size. Because vieux describes Age, it goes before the noun.
Vieux ends in an "x". Does that mean it's plural here?
No, vieux is the standard masculine singular form of "old". Conveniently, it keeps the exact same spelling for the masculine plural, so both ce vieux carton (this old box) and ces vieux cartons (these old boxes) use the exact same spelling for "old".

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