Question 1

How does c'est pourquoi work in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

C'est pourquoi literally means "it is why," but it translates best as "that is why" or "therefore." It introduces the logical consequence of the first clause. Notice that it directly connects the two parts of the sentence without needing an extra connecting word like que.

Question 2

Could I use par conséquent instead of c'est pourquoi here?

Accepted Answer

Yes! You could say Nous avons pris la machine, par conséquent nous allons l'utiliser. Both express a logical consequence. C'est pourquoi is very common in everyday spoken French, while par conséquent (consequently / therefore) can sound just a little bit more formal.

Question 3

Why is the pronoun l' placed right before utiliser instead of before allons?

Accepted Answer

In French, when you have a conjugated verb followed by an infinitive (like the near future tense allons utiliser), object pronouns almost always go directly before the infinitive they belong to. Since we are using the machine, the pronoun l' (standing for la machine) goes right in front of utiliser.

Question 4

Is it normal to mix past and future tenses around a consequence connector?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. The connector c'est pourquoi just links the logic between two events, regardless of when they happen. Here, the cause happened in the past (nous avons pris - we took), and the result will happen in the future (nous allons l'utiliser - we are going to use it).

Nous avons pris la machine, c'est pourquoi nous allons l'utiliser.

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