Breakdown of Soyons polis et ayons une bonne conversation.
être
to be
une
a / an (feminine)
et
and
poli
polite
Questions & Answers about Soyons polis et ayons une bonne conversation.
Why is the word for "let's be" soyons instead of sommes?
To give a command or make a group suggestion ("let's..."), French uses the imperative form. The verb être (to be) has a highly irregular imperative. Instead of the normal present tense sommes (we are), you must use the special form soyons to say "let's be".
Why does the sentence use ayons instead of avons for "let's have"?
Similar to être, the verb avoir (to have) is irregular when giving commands or suggestions. To say "let's have", you use the special imperative form ayons. For reference, the "you" commands for avoir are aie (singular/informal) and ayez (plural/formal).
There is no subject word like nous (we) here, so why does polis have an -s at the end?
In imperative sentences, we drop the subject pronoun. However, adjectives still must agree with the implied subject! Since soyons means "let's be", the implied subject is a plural "we". Therefore, poli (polite) needs an -s to match the plural group.
Why does the adjective bonne come before the noun conversation?