Learn French: Il parle toujours du même sujet. - He always talks about the same subject.

Il parle toujours du même sujet.

He always talks about the same subject.

Breakdown of Il parle toujours du même sujet.

the subject, the topic

Questions & Answers about Il parle toujours du même sujet.

Could I use the expression il s'agit de in this sentence?

You could say Il s'agit toujours du même sujet, but it changes the meaning! Il s'agit de is an impersonal expression meaning "It is about" or "It's a matter of." In that case, the il just means a general "it." In our sentence, Il parle means a specific person ("He") is physically doing the talking.

Why is it du même sujet instead of de le même sujet?

The verb parler uses the preposition de when you are talking about something. Because sujet is masculine, it uses the article le (the). In French, de + le must always contract into du.

Why is même placed before the noun?

The word même changes its meaning depending on where it sits. When placed right before the noun, it means "same" (le même sujet = the same subject). If it is placed right after the noun, it emphasizes the noun and means "itself" (le sujet même = the subject itself).

Why does toujours come after the verb instead of before it like in English?

In French, short adverbs of frequency like toujours (always), souvent (often), and jamais (never) go immediately after the conjugated verb (Il parle toujours). You cannot put the adverb between the subject and the verb as we do in English ("He always talks").