Breakdown of Nous apprenons à respecter la discipline au judo.
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
à
at / to / in (general locations) / about (what one thinks about / reacts to)
au
to the / at the (masculine singular)
apprendre
to learn
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
respecter
to respect
la discipline
the discipline
le judo
the judo
Questions & Answers about Nous apprenons à respecter la discipline au judo.
Why do we need "à" between "apprenons" and "respecter"?
In French, certain verbs require a specific preposition before another verb in the infinitive (the unconjugated form, like respecter). The verb apprendre (to learn) always needs the preposition à when it is followed by an action. So, "to learn to do something" is always apprendre à faire quelque chose.
Does "à respecter" literally translate to "to respect" here?
Not exactly! It is tempting to translate the à as "to", but the infinitive verb respecter already means "to respect" all by itself. The à is there purely as a grammatical bridge because the first verb (apprendre) demands it. If we used a verb that doesn't take a preposition, like vouloir (to want), it would simply be Nous voulons respecter (We want to respect).
Why does the sentence use "au judo" instead of "dans le judo" for "in judo"?
When talking about the rules, practices, or context of a sport or game, French typically uses the preposition à rather than dans. Since judo is a masculine noun, à and le contract to become au. While dans strongly emphasizes being physically inside of something, au judo naturally captures the idea of "in the context of judo" or "at judo".
Should I pronounce the "s" at the end of "apprenons"?
Yes, you can make a liaison here. Because apprenons ends in an "s" and the next word (à) starts with a vowel, you can pronounce the "s" as a "z" sound linking the two words together. While this specific liaison is optional in casual everyday speech, making it is very common and sounds perfectly natural.
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