Learn French: C'est pourquoi, dans la chorale, les membres s'écoutent les uns les autres. - That is why, in the choir, the members listen to one another.

Word

C'est pourquoi, dans la chorale, les membres s'écoutent les uns les autres.

Meaning

That is why, in the choir, the members listen to one another.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

French

Lesson

Explicit reciprocity (l'un l'autre)

Breakdown of C'est pourquoi, dans la chorale, les membres s'écoutent les uns les autres.

Questions & Answers about C'est pourquoi, dans la chorale, les membres s'écoutent les uns les autres.

Why do we need les uns les autres if s'écoutent already means they listen to each other?

The pronoun s' in s'écoutent can mean "themselves" (reflexive) or "each other" (reciprocal). While context usually makes it clear, adding les uns les autres removes any ambiguity and strongly emphasizes that the action goes back and forth between the members.

Why is it les uns les autres here instead of l'un l'autre?

We use the plural les uns les autres because a choir (une chorale) has more than two members. If there were only two people listening to each other, you would use the singular l'un l'autre.

I've seen things like les uns aux autres. Why is there no à or de between les uns and les autres here?

It depends on the verb! The verb écouter takes a direct object in French, meaning you listen someone (écouter quelqu'un) without a preposition. So, we just use les uns les autres. If the verb required à, like parler à (to talk to), it would become les uns aux autres.

Can I just say c'est parce que instead of c'est pourquoi?

They actually mean opposite things! C'est pourquoi means "that is why" or "therefore" (giving the result of something). C'est parce que means "it is because" (giving the cause or reason).