Learn French: Tu crois le touriste posant cette question au guichet ? - Do you believe the tourist asking this question at the counter?

Tu crois le touriste posant cette question au guichet ?

Do you believe the tourist asking this question at the counter?

Breakdown of Tu crois le touriste posant cette question au guichet ?

you (informal singular)

this (before a noun)

to the / at the (masculine singular)

la question

the question

Questions & Answers about Tu crois le touriste posant cette question au guichet ?

Why does this sentence use posant instead of qui pose?

Posant is the present participle of poser. In French, you can often replace an active relative clause starting with qui (like qui pose, meaning who is asking) with the present participle. It means the exact same thing but makes the sentence a bit more concise, which is common in written or slightly formal French.

If there were multiple tourists, would posant get an s at the end?

No, it would stay exactly the same. When a present participle is followed by a direct object (like cette question) and expresses an action, it acts as a verb rather than an adjective. In this role, it is strictly invariable and never changes to match gender or number.

Why is it posant cette question and not demandant cette question?

In French, you cannot use demander (to ask) with the word question. The correct phrase is always poser une question (literally to pose a question). Saying demander une question is a classic mistake for English speakers, so be sure to memorize this combination!

Why is it Tu crois le touriste and not Tu crois au touriste?

The verb croire changes meaning depending on the preposition. Croire quelqu'un (with no preposition) means to believe that someone is telling the truth, which fits this sentence. Croire à or croire en means to believe in someone or something's existence or abilities.