Breakdown of Ils détruisent le parking, et je suis content qu'ils plantent des arbres.
je
I
être
to be
et
and
des
some (plural indefinite)
content
happy
ils
they (masculine/mixed)
l'arbre
the tree (m)
que
that (introducing a clause)
détruire
to destroy
le parking
the parking lot
planter
to plant
Questions & Answers about Ils détruisent le parking, et je suis content qu'ils plantent des arbres.
Is plantent in the subjunctive here? It looks exactly like the normal present tense!
Yes, it is in the subjunctive! The phrase je suis content que (I am happy that) expresses an emotion, which triggers the subjunctive for the verb that follows. For regular -er verbs like planter, the ils/elles form in the subjunctive (qu'ils plantent) is completely identical to the present indicative. You just have to know it's subjunctive because of the trigger phrase.
Why is the word parking used as a noun for 'parking lot'?
What verb does détruisent come from?
It comes from détruire (to destroy). It belongs to a group of irregular -re verbs that add an s to their stem in the plural present tense forms (like nous détruisons, vous détruisez, ils détruisent). Another common verb that follows this exact pattern is construire (to build).
Why does que combine with ils to make qu'ils?
The word que must drop its e and use an apostrophe when the following word starts with a vowel or a mute h. Unlike some other short words like qui (which never drops its i), que always forces this contraction, so que ils becomes qu'ils.
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