Question 1

Why is there no preposition like à or de between aime and pêcher?

Accepted Answer

Verbs expressing a preference or feeling—like aimer (to like/love), détester (to hate), and préférer (to prefer)—connect directly to a following infinitive verb. You do not use a preposition between them.

Question 2

Why does the adjective vieux come before the noun pêcheur?

Accepted Answer

Most French adjectives go after the noun. However, short, common adjectives that describe Beauty, Age, Number, Goodness, and Size (often remembered by the acronym BANGS) go before the noun. Vieux describes "Age," so it comes first.

Question 3

If the sentence were about an old man (homme), would we still use vieux?

Accepted Answer

No, it would become le vieil homme. When a masculine singular adjective like vieux comes directly before a noun starting with a vowel or a mute h, it changes to vieil to make pronunciation smoother. Because pêcheur starts with a consonant, it stays vieux here.

Question 4

Why is it ce lac and not cet lac or cette lac?

Accepted Answer

The word lac is masculine, which rules out the feminine cette. For masculine singular nouns, you use ce ("this" or "that") if the noun starts with a consonant. You only use cet if the masculine noun starts with a vowel or a mute h.

Question 5

Is it a coincidence that pêcheur and pêcher look so similar?

Accepted Answer

Not at all! Pêcher is the infinitive verb "to fish." In French, you can often create a noun for the person doing the action by dropping the -er ending and adding -eur. So, pêcher becomes le pêcheur (the fisherman), just like chanter (to sing) becomes le chanteur (the singer).

Le vieux pêcheur aime pêcher dans ce lac.

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