Question 1

Why does le come after the verb in caresse-le?

Accepted Answer

When you give a positive command, direct object pronouns like le come after the verb and are attached with a hyphen. In a normal statement, the pronoun goes before the verb, as in tu le caresses.

Question 2

Why is the verb spelled caresse instead of caresses?

Accepted Answer

For regular verbs ending in -er like caresser, you drop the final s in the tu command form. So the normal statement tu caresses becomes the command caresse.

Question 3

Why use C'est instead of Il est to talk about the dog?

Accepted Answer

You use c'est when describing someone or something with a noun that has an article like un, le, or mon. Because we say un bon chien, we have to use c'est. You would use il est if you were only using an adjective, like il est bon.

Question 4

Why do we use le instead of lui to mean him?

Accepted Answer

Le is a direct object pronoun, which answers who or what is receiving the action. You are petting the dog directly, so you use le. You would use lui for indirect objects, which usually follow verbs that use the preposition à in French.

C'est un bon chien, caresse-le.

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