Breakdown of Les orateurs ont répondu au jury patiemment et éloquemment.
et
and
avoir
to have
à
at / to / in (general locations) / about (what one thinks about / reacts to)
répondre
to answer / to reply
Questions & Answers about Les orateurs ont répondu au jury patiemment et éloquemment.
How are the adverbs patiemment and éloquemment formed here?
They are formed from the adjectives patient and éloquent. For adjectives ending in -ent, you drop that ending and replace it with -emment to create the adverb of manner.
How do you pronounce the -emment ending in these two adverbs?
Surprisingly, the -emment ending is pronounced exactly the same as the -amment ending. It sounds like ah-man (with a nasal sound at the end), not eh-man.
Why is it au jury instead of just le jury?
Why are the adverbs placed at the very end of the sentence?
While short, common adverbs like bien usually go between the helper verb and the past participle (ont bien répondu), longer adverbs of manner like patiemment and éloquemment go after the past participle. Here, they are placed after the indirect object (au jury) so the verb and its object aren't separated by such long words.