Question 1

I thought the French word for "pass" was "passer"? Why is it "réussir" here?

Accepted Answer

In French, passer un examen actually means to take a test, not to pass it! To say you successfully passed a test, you must use the verb réussir (which literally means "to succeed").

Question 2

Why does réussis end in an "s" for the je form?

Accepted Answer

Réussir is a regular -ir verb. For the je (I) form of regular -ir verbs, you drop the -ir and add -is. That gives us je réussis (I succeed / I pass).

Question 3

The current lesson is about pour. Could I say pour mon professeur here instead?

Accepted Answer

You could, but it changes the meaning! Pour mon professeur means you passed the exam for your teacher (perhaps as a favor to them or to make them proud). To say you passed because of their help, you use grâce à (thanks to).

Question 4

What does grâce à mean, and does the à ever change?

Accepted Answer

Grâce à means "thanks to" (and is always used for a positive reason). Because it uses the preposition à, it will combine with le to make au, or les to make aux if followed by those words. However, since the word mon (my) is right after it here, no combination is needed, so it stays as à mon.

Je réussis l'examen grâce à mon professeur.

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