Question 1

What exactly does en effet do in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

In French, en effet is used to confirm, justify, or explain what was just said. Here, it acts almost like "because" or "as a matter of fact," explaining why she stayed home. It confirms that staying home was a logical choice because she gets things done.

Question 2

Could I use en fait instead of en effet here?

Accepted Answer

They are close, but they serve different purposes. You use en effet to confirm or explain what was just said (like "indeed" or "sure enough"). You use en fait to contradict or correct a misconception (like "actually" or "in fact"). Because the second part of this sentence strongly supports the first part, en effet is the perfect choice.

Question 3

What is the y doing in elle y est productive?

Accepted Answer

The pronoun y replaces a place or location that was just mentioned, so you don't have to repeat it. Here, it replaces à la maison. Instead of repeating the phrase and saying elle est productive à la maison (she is productive at home), you simply say elle y est productive (she is productive there).

Question 4

Why does restée have an extra e at the end?

Accepted Answer

Because rester (to stay) is one of the verbs of movement or state that uses être (to be) as its helping verb in the past tense, rather than avoir (to have). When you use être, the past participle must agree with the subject. Since the subject is elle (feminine singular), we add an e to make it restée.

Elle est restée à la maison ; en effet, elle y est productive.

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