Les voitures polluent l'air de la ville.

Questions & Answers about Les voitures polluent l'air de la ville.

Why is there a "Les" before "voitures" if the English translation just says "Cars"?
In English, we drop the word "the" when talking about things in a general sense. In French, you must use a definite article (le, la, or les) for general categories. So, "cars" in general is always les voitures.
How do I pronounce "polluent"? Is the "-ent" ending spoken out loud?
No, the -ent ending on the "they" form (ils/elles) of regular verbs is completely silent. You pronounce polluent exactly the same way as the singular form, pollue.
Why is "city's air" translated as "l'air de la ville"?
French does not have an apostrophe 's ('s) to show possession. Instead, you use de (of) to connect the nouns. You literally have to say "the air of the city" (l'air de la ville).
The current lesson is about "plus de" (more). How would I use it with this sentence to say cars pollute more?
You wouldn't use plus de here because polluent is a verb. To say they pollute more, you just use plus without de: Les voitures polluent plus. You only use plus de before nouns, like plus de pollution (more pollution).

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