Breakdown of Chaque citoyen dit qu'il soutient la mesure du gouvernement.
il
he
du
of the / from the (masculine singular, with plural des)
la
her, it (feminine direct object pronoun)
dire
to say, to tell
que
that (introducing a clause)
le citoyen
the citizen
chaque
each / every
le gouvernement
the government
soutenir
to support
la mesure
the measure
Questions & Answers about Chaque citoyen dit qu'il soutient la mesure du gouvernement.
Why is soutient in the present tense here?
Because the introductory verb dit (says) is in the present tense. In French reported speech, if the main reporting verb is in the present, the tense of the reported action doesn't change from the original statement. The citizen's original direct quote would be Je soutiens... (I support...), so it simply becomes qu'il soutient.
The English translation says "they support", so why does the French use il instead of ils?
In English, we often use "they" as a gender-neutral singular pronoun for generic words like "citizen" or "person". French pronouns, however, must strictly agree with the grammatical gender and number of the noun they replace. Since citoyen is masculine and singular, the reporting pronoun must be il, even though it translates naturally to "they" in English.
Could I say tous les citoyens instead of chaque citoyen?
Yes, the meaning is very similar, but the grammar structure changes. Chaque means "each" or "every" and is always followed directly by a singular noun with no article (chaque citoyen). If you want to use tous (all), you must use a plural noun and include the definite article: tous les citoyens.
Why is it du gouvernement instead of just de gouvernement?
Because you are literally saying "the measure of the government". "Of the" is made up of the preposition de plus the definite article le. In French, de + le always contracts into du before a masculine singular noun like gouvernement.
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