Breakdown of Nous avons loué l'hélicoptère il y a une heure. Celui-ci est très rapide.
être
to be
très
very
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
rapide
fast
avoir
to have
l'heure
the hour / o'clock (f)
louer
to rent
il y a
ago
celui
the one (masculine singular)
ci
this, these (demonstrative suffix)
l'hélicoptère
the helicopter (m)
Questions & Answers about Nous avons loué l'hélicoptère il y a une heure. Celui-ci est très rapide.
Why do we use celui-ci here instead of just saying il?
Celui-ci translates to "this one". We use it to point out the specific helicopter we just mentioned. It is made of celui (the masculine singular pronoun, matching hélicoptère) and the suffix -ci (meaning "this" or "here"). While il just means "it", celui-ci puts special emphasis on "this specific one".
If I were talking about a car (la voiture) instead of a helicopter, would I still use celui-ci?
Doesn't il y a mean "there is"? Why does it mean "ago" in this sentence?
Why is it avons loué instead of just louons?
Avons loué is the past tense (passé composé) of the verb louer (to rent). Because the renting happened in the past, we need this past tense made of the helping verb avons (have) and the past participle loué (rented). If we used nous louons, it would mean "we are renting" right now.
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