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Les invités découvrent la surprise.

Les invités découvrent la surprise.
The guests discover the surprise.
From Lesson 90:Irregular -ir verbs with regular endings (ouvrir, offrir)·French

Questions & Answers about Les invités découvrent la surprise.

Why does découvrent end in -ent if the infinitive ends in -ir?
The verb découvrir (to discover) belongs to a special group of -ir verbs that are conjugated exactly like regular -er verbs in the present tense. Just like ouvrir (to open) and offrir (to offer), you drop the -ir and add the normal -er endings. For a plural subject like Les invités (they), the ending is -ent.
Do I pronounce the -ent at the end of découvrent?
No, you don't. A very common trap in French is that the -ent ending for the 'they' form of verbs is completely silent. You just pronounce the stem, sounding roughly like 'day-koovr'.
Should I make a liaison between Les and invités?
Yes! Because Les ends in an 's' and invités starts with a vowel, you link them together. It is pronounced with a 'z' sound bridging the two words: 'lay-zahn-vee-tay'.
Is découvrir related to the verb ouvrir from this lesson?
Yes, it is! Découvrir literally means 'to un-cover' or 'to discover'. Any verb that has ouvrir inside it, like découvrir or couvrir (to cover), follows the exact same conjugation rules as ouvrir.

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