Breakdown of Je vois les mouettes chercher le poisson.
je
I
chercher
to look for
voir
to see
le poisson
the fish
la mouette
the seagull
Questions & Answers about Je vois les mouettes chercher le poisson.
Why is it chercher and not a French word ending in -ant to match the English looking?
In French, when you describe seeing, hearing, or feeling someone do an action, you use the infinitive (the basic, unconjugated verb, like chercher) after the object. English often uses an -ing word here, but French uses the pattern: verb of perception + object + infinitive.
Why isn't there a French word for 'for' after chercher?
If I wanted to replace 'the seagulls' with a pronoun (I see them looking...), where would the pronoun go?
The direct object pronoun goes right before the conjugated verb of perception (vois), not before the infinitive. You would say Je les vois chercher le poisson.
Why is it le poisson (singular) if seagulls usually look for multiple fish?
In English, the word fish is spelled the same whether singular or plural, but in French, the plural is les poissons. Here, le poisson is singular. It can be used as a collective noun referring to fish as a general category of food or prey, rather than counting individual fish.
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