Word
La sorcière regarda la princesse et cria.
Meaning
The witch looked at the princess and shouted.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of La sorcière regarda la princesse et cria.
et
and
regarder
to watch
crier
to shout
la sorcière
the witch
Questions & Answers about La sorcière regarda la princesse et cria.
Why do regarda and cria end in -a instead of -e or -é?
They are conjugated in the passé simple, a past tense used mostly in writing and literature. For regular -er verbs like regarder (to look) and crier (to shout), the il/elle (he/she) form ends with a simple -a.
How is this different from the past tense I already know?
In everyday spoken French, you would use the passé composé and say a regardé and a crié. The passé simple does the exact same job but is used almost exclusively in written storytelling, which is why it often shows up in fairy tales about witches and princesses.
Wait, doesn't an -a ending mean it's the future tense?
Why isn't there a word for "at" in regarda la princesse?