Breakdown of L'étudiant triche et attend sa punition.
et
and
l'étudiant
the student (m)
son
his/her/its (son, sa, ses)
attendre
to wait / to wait for
tricher
to cheat
la punition
the punishment
Questions & Answers about L'étudiant triche et attend sa punition.
This lesson is about the subjunctive. Why isn't the subjunctive used in this sentence?
The subjunctive is triggered by expressions of doubt, will, or desire (like vouloir que), and usually requires two different subjects. This sentence is just stating a fact, so it uses the standard indicative mood. If we added an expression of will—like "The teacher wants the student to wait" (Le professeur veut que l'étudiant attende)—then we would use the subjunctive.
Why isn't there a word for "for" after attend?
If the student is male, why do we use the feminine sa for "his"?
French possessive adjectives agree with the gender of the noun being owned, not the owner. Because punition is a feminine noun, you must use sa, regardless of whether the student is a boy (l'étudiant) or a girl (l'étudiante).
Why doesn't the verb attend end with a t like many other third-person verbs?
Attendre is a regular -re verb. To conjugate it for il, elle, or on (the third-person singular), you simply drop the -re from the infinitive and add nothing else to the end. That leaves it ending on the d of the stem: il attend.
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