Learn French: Les comptables ne l'envoient pas. - The accountants are not sending it.

Les comptables ne l'envoient pas.

The accountants are not sending it.

Breakdown of Les comptables ne l'envoient pas.

not (used before the verb)

pas

not (used after the verb)

envoyer

to send

him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)

Questions & Answers about Les comptables ne l'envoient pas.

Why is the verb spelled envoient with an i instead of a y?

Envoyer (to send) is a stem-changing verb. Whenever the verb ending is silent, like the -ent used for plural subjects (les comptables), the y changes to an i. If the ending were pronounced, like with nous or vous, it would keep the y (for example, nous envoyons).

What does the l' mean, and why is it placed before the verb?

The l' is a direct object pronoun meaning 'it' (standing in for le or la). In French, object pronouns must go immediately before the verb. Because envoient starts with a vowel, the pronoun drops its vowel and hooks directly onto the verb.

How does the negative ne ... pas work with the pronoun l'?

The pronoun and the verb stick tightly together. When you make the sentence negative, the ne and pas form a sandwich around both of them as a single unit, giving you ne + l'envoient + pas.

Do I pronounce the -ent at the end of envoient?

No, the -ent ending on plural verbs is always completely silent. You just pronounce the word as if it ended at the vowel sound, roughly like 'on-vwa'.