Word
L'agent demande où envoyer le remboursement.
Meaning
The agent asks where to send the refund.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of L'agent demande où envoyer le remboursement.
où
where
envoyer
to send
demander
to ask (for) / to require / demand
l'agent
the agent (m)
Questions & Answers about L'agent demande où envoyer le remboursement.
Why is there no word for "to" before envoyer?
In English, we say "where to send." In French, when an indirect question is followed by an infinitive, the question word connects directly to the verb. You just say où envoyer—adding à or de to translate "to" would be incorrect here.
Could we conjugate the verb instead of using the infinitive envoyer?
Yes! Using the infinitive (où envoyer) is a very natural and concise shortcut when the person asking is the same person doing the action, or if it's a general instruction. However, you could also use a conjugated verb, for example: L'agent demande où il doit envoyer le remboursement (The agent asks where he must send the refund).
I sometimes confuse demander and poser. Why use demande here?
In French, you only use poser for the literal action of "asking a question" (poser une question). For everything else—including reporting an indirect question like "asks where..." (demande où...)—you must use demander.