Breakdown of Nous arrêtons de fumer pour améliorer notre santé.
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
pour
for
notre
our (singular and plural forms: notre, nos)
fumer
to smoke
améliorer
to improve
la santé
the health
arrêter de
to stop (doing something)
Questions & Answers about Nous arrêtons de fumer pour améliorer notre santé.
Since this lesson is about ne... plus, how would I express 'We don't smoke anymore' instead of 'We are quitting smoking'?
Why is there a de after arrêtons?
In French, certain verbs must be followed by a specific preposition before another action (an infinitive verb). The verb arrêter (to stop / to quit) requires the preposition de when you talk about stopping an action. Therefore, 'to stop smoking' is always arrêter de fumer.
Why do we say pour améliorer instead of just améliorer?
When you want to say 'in order to do something' or express the goal of an action in French, you use the preposition pour followed by an infinitive verb (the unconjugated dictionary form of a verb). Here, pour améliorer translates directly to 'in order to improve' or 'to improve'.
Why do we use notre here instead of nos if 'we' is a plural subject?
Possessive adjectives in French must match the thing being owned, not the people who own it. Even though 'we' is plural, we share one collective health (la santé, which is a singular noun). Because health is singular, we use the singular form notre santé (our health). If the noun were plural, like 'our habits', you would use nos habitudes.
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