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Il est tombé sur le coude.

Il est tombé sur le coude.
He fell on his elbow.
From Lesson 215:The body and appearance·French

Breakdown of Il est tombé sur le coude.

sur
on
tomber
to fall
le coude
the elbow

Questions & Answers about Il est tombé sur le coude.

Why does the French sentence use le coude (the elbow) instead of son coude (his elbow)?
In French, when talking about body parts, you generally use the definite article (le, la, les) instead of a possessive word (mon, ton, son) if it is obvious whose body part it is. Because the subject is Il, it is already clear that he fell on his own elbow.
Why do we use est instead of a for the past tense here?
The verb tomber (to fall) uses être rather than avoir as its auxiliary (helping) verb in the past tense. It belongs to the specific group of verbs showing motion or a change of state that always pair with être, often taught to English speakers as the Dr & Mrs Vandertramp verbs.
Would the word tombé change if the subject was female?
Yes. Because tomber uses être in the past tense, the past participle must agree with the gender and number of the subject. If the sentence was about a woman, it would be Elle est tombée sur le coude, adding an extra e at the end.
Could tomber sur have another meaning in a different context?
Yes, tomber sur is a very common idiom meaning to run into someone or to stumble upon something by accident. If the sentence were Il est tombé sur son frère, it would usually mean he bumped into his brother by chance, not that he physically fell on him!

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