Learn French: Elle demande ce que vous observez pendant la réaction. - She asks what you observe during the reaction.

Elle demande ce que vous observez pendant la réaction.

She asks what you observe during the reaction.

Breakdown of Elle demande ce que vous observez pendant la réaction.

for / during (duration)

observer

to observe

Questions & Answers about Elle demande ce que vous observez pendant la réaction.

Why do we use ce que for "what" here instead of just que or quoi?

In indirect questions—when you report a question rather than asking it directly—"what" is translated as either ce qui or ce que. We use ce que here because "what" is the object of the action: you are observing it. If "what" were the subject doing the action (like in "what is happening"), we would use ce qui.

Why is the word order vous observez instead of inverted like observez-vous?

Indirect questions in French do not use inversion. Even if the original direct question was Qu'observez-vous ? (What do you observe?), once it becomes reported speech embedded in a sentence, it changes back to standard subject-verb order: ce que vous observez.

Why doesn't the tense of observez change in this reported sentence?

Because the introductory verb demande is in the present tense. When reporting speech with a present tense introductory verb, you do not need to shift the tenses of the original quote backwards. Her original question was in the present tense, so it stays in the present tense here.

Could I use durant instead of pendant for "during" here?