Question 1

Why do we need the word de before donner?

Accepted Answer

This is how French handles indirect commands. To say "tell someone to do something," you use the structure dire à quelqu'un de faire quelque chose. The de connects the command to the action, acting similarly to "to" in the English phrase "to give."

Question 2

In English, we just say "I tell my sister." Why does French use à ma sœur?

Accepted Answer

In French, the verb dire (to say/tell) requires the preposition à when indicating who you are speaking to. You can't just say Je dis ma sœur; it must be Je dis à ma sœur (literally, "I say to my sister").

Question 3

This sentence uses à twice (à ma sœur and à l'enfant). Is it normal to repeat it like that?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it is perfectly fine here! The two à's belong to completely different verbs in the sentence. The first one belongs to dire (dire à ma sœur = to tell my sister), and the second belongs to donner (donner à l'enfant = to give to the child).

Question 4

How would I make this command negative, like "I tell my sister not to give..."?

Accepted Answer

You would place ne pas right after de and before the infinitive verb. The sentence would become: Je dis à ma sœur de ne pas donner le biberon à l'enfant. Remember that when negating an infinitive verb like donner, the ne and pas stay together instead of sandwiching the verb.

Je dis à ma sœur de donner le biberon à l'enfant.

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