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Il est essentiel de suivre une thérapie pour se sentir mieux.

Il est essentiel de suivre une thérapie pour se sentir mieux.
It is essential to follow a therapy to feel better.
From Lesson 148:Impersonal expressions (il est important de)·French

Questions & Answers about Il est essentiel de suivre une thérapie pour se sentir mieux.

Why does this sentence use Il est essentiel de instead of C'est essentiel de?
In formal or written French, Il est followed by an adjective and de is the standard way to make an impersonal statement like 'It is... to...'. In everyday spoken French, you will often hear C'est essentiel de, but Il est is the grammatically strict form taught in this lesson.
Why is there a de before suivre? Can I just say Il est essentiel suivre?
No, you must include the de. Whenever you use the structure Il est plus an adjective to evaluate an action, French requires the preposition de right before the infinitive verb (in this case, suivre).
Why use suivre (to follow) with thérapie? Wouldn't we say 'do' or 'go to' therapy?
In French, you 'follow' (suivre) medical treatments, classes, or therapies rather than 'doing' them. It is a natural word pairing in French that you just have to memorize: suivre une thérapie.
Why is it se sentir instead of just sentir?
Se sentir is a reflexive verb used when talking about how you feel physically or emotionally, such as feeling better. If you just use sentir without the reflexive pronoun se, it means to smell something or to physically touch an object.
Why use mieux for 'better' here instead of meilleur?
Mieux is an adverb, meaning it describes how an action is done. Here, it describes the verb se sentir (how you feel). You would use the adjective meilleur to describe a noun, like saying a certain therapy is a 'better' therapy.

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