Learn French: J'offre un échange parce que la qualité est mauvaise. - I offer an exchange because the quality is bad.

J'offre un échange parce que la qualité est mauvaise.

I offer an exchange because the quality is bad.

Breakdown of J'offre un échange parce que la qualité est mauvaise.

Questions & Answers about J'offre un échange parce que la qualité est mauvaise.

Wait, offrir is an -ir verb. Why does it end in -e like an -er verb here?

Even though offrir ends in -ir, it belongs to a small group of verbs (along with ouvrir and souffrir) that are conjugated exactly like regular -er verbs in the present tense. That is why it is j'offre.

Why use parce que here instead of à cause de?

Parce que (because) is used to introduce a full clause with a subject and a verb, which is exactly what we have here with la qualité est mauvaise. You would only use à cause de (because of) if you were following it with just a noun, like à cause de la mauvaise qualité.

How would I turn this into an indirect question, like 'He asks why I offer an exchange'?

Using what we are learning about reported speech, you would replace the explanation with an indirect question and say Il demande pourquoi j'offre un échange. Notice that you do not need to invert the subject and verb after pourquoi; the word order stays exactly like a normal statement.

Why is it mauvaise and not mauvais?

Adjectives in French must match the gender of the noun they describe. La qualité is a feminine noun, so the adjective takes the feminine form mauvaise.