Learn French: Elle souffre souvent d'angoisse. - She often suffers from anxiety.

Elle souffre souvent d'angoisse.

She often suffers from anxiety.

Breakdown of Elle souffre souvent d'angoisse.

Questions & Answers about Elle souffre souvent d'angoisse.

Souffrir is an -ir verb, so why does it end in -e here instead of -it?

Even though souffrir (to suffer) ends in -ir, it belongs to a small group of verbs that are conjugated exactly like regular -er verbs in the present tense. For elle, we drop the -ir and add -e, giving us elle souffre. Other verbs that do this include ouvrir (to open) and offrir (to offer).

Since this lesson is about ce dont, how would I say 'That is what she suffers from' using this verb?

The verb here is souffrir de (to suffer from). Because it uses the preposition de, you must use dont to represent the thing being suffered from in a relative clause. To say 'That is what she suffers from,' you would say: C'est ce dont elle souffre.

Why is souvent placed right after the verb souffre?

In French, short adverbs of frequency like souvent (often), toujours (always), and parfois (sometimes) are placed immediately after the conjugated verb. You cannot put them between the subject and the verb like we do in English, so you can never say Elle souvent souffre.

Why is there no article here? Why isn't it souffre de l'angoisse?