Breakdown of Le professeur demande aux enfants de respecter la politesse.
l'enfant
the child
le professeur
the teacher
aux
to the, at the (plural) / with (flavoured with, in dish names) / with (having as a feature)
respecter
to respect
demander
to ask (for) / to require / demand
de
to (introducing an infinitive after a verb)
la politesse
the politeness
Questions & Answers about Le professeur demande aux enfants de respecter la politesse.
Why is there a de before respecter?
Why is it aux enfants instead of just les enfants?
The verb demander requires the preposition à before the person you are directing the request to, forming the structure demander à quelqu'un. Because enfants is plural, the preposition à combines with the plural article les to form the mandatory contraction aux.
Is respecter la politesse the normal way to say "to be polite" in French?
It is a common phrase used in rules or school settings, translating closer to "to observe good manners" or "to respect etiquette". You could also just say d'être poli (to be polite), but this specific phrasing emphasizes actively following behavioral rules.
If I wanted to say "The teacher asks them to respect politeness", how would I change aux enfants?
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