Question 1

Why do we use chez elle to mean "at her place"?

Accepted Answer

The word chez is a very common preposition in French that means "at the home of" or "at the place of". Instead of saying "at the house of her" using the word for house (maison), you simply combine chez with the pronoun elle (her) to mean "at her place".

Question 2

Why is it chez elle and not chez sa or chez la?

Accepted Answer

After prepositions like chez, avec (with), or pour (for), you must use a specific set of pronouns called "stress pronouns" (such as moi, toi, lui, elle). Elle is the stress pronoun for "her". You can't use sa, because that is a possessive word meant to go directly in front of a noun (like sa maison for "her house").

Question 3

The English translation says "looking at", but there is no word for "at" in the French sentence. Why is that?

Accepted Answer

The French verb regarder translates directly to "to look at" or "to watch". The "at" is already built into the meaning of the verb, so you never add an extra preposition like à after it. You just put the object right after the verb: Nous regardons les étoiles.

Question 4

Do I pronounce the 's' in les before étoiles?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you do! Because étoiles starts with a vowel, you need to make a "liaison". This means the normally silent 's' at the end of les is pronounced like a 'z' sound, linking directly into the first vowel sound of étoiles.

Nous regardons les étoiles sur le toit chez elle.

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