Breakdown of Nous payons le nouveau comptable.
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
nouveau
new
payer
to pay
le comptable
the accountant
Questions & Answers about Nous payons le nouveau comptable.
Since payer is a stem-changing verb (changing y to i), why doesn't payons have an i?
For verbs ending in -yer, the y changes to an i in the present tense except for the nous and vous forms. So it becomes je paie (I pay) or ils paient (they pay), but keeps the y in nous payons (we pay) and vous payez (you pay).
In English we often say "we pay for the accountant." Why isn't there a word for "for" in this sentence?
Why does nouveau come before comptable? Don't most French adjectives go after the noun?
Most do, but nouveau (new) belongs to a small group of common adjectives that always go before the noun. These are usually short adjectives describing Beauty, Age, Goodness, or Size (often taught as the BAGS rule). Because nouveau describes age/newness, it goes in front.
How would this sentence change if the new accountant were a woman?