Breakdown of Je sens le vent froid souffler sur le port.
je
I
sur
on
froid
cold
le vent
the wind
souffler
to blow
le port
the harbor
sentir
to feel
Questions & Answers about Je sens le vent froid souffler sur le port.
Why does the French sentence use the infinitive souffler when the English translation uses the "-ing" word "blowing"?
Could I use a relative clause like qui souffle instead of the infinitive souffler?
Yes! You can also say Je sens le vent froid qui souffle. Both are grammatically correct and mean the exact same thing. The infinitive construction used here is just a bit more direct and is very common in written and spoken French.
If I wanted to replace le vent froid with "it," where would the pronoun go?
The direct object pronoun goes before the main verb of perception, not before the infinitive. To say "I feel it blowing," you would place the pronoun le before sens, giving you: Je le sens souffler.
Just as a refresher, why is the adjective froid placed after vent?
In French, most adjectives go right after the noun they describe, especially those dealing with literal physical qualities like temperature, color, or shape. So, "the cold wind" becomes le vent froid.
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