Question 1

Why is there an l' in Elle l'est vraiment? Can't I just say Elle est vraiment like in English?

Accepted Answer

In English, we can drop the adjective and just say "She really is." In French, you cannot leave verbs like être (to be) hanging without their predicate. You must use the neuter pronoun le (which contracts to l' before the vowel) to replace the adjective vexée. It essentially translates to "She really is it."

Question 2

Since vexée is feminine, shouldn't we use la instead of the neuter le?

Accepted Answer

When a pronoun replaces an adjective or a general state of being, it is invariable. This means you always use the neuter le (or l'), regardless of the gender or number of the subject. It refers back to the idea of "being offended" rather than replacing a specific feminine noun.

Question 3

Could I say Elle te semble vexée à toi instead of just using te?

Accepted Answer

You cannot replace te with à toi. The indirect object pronoun te must go before the verb semble. You can add à toi at the end for strong emphasis, like Elle te semble vexée, à toi ?, but the te is still grammatically required before the verb.

Question 4

Why does vraiment come at the end of the sentence? Could I say Elle vraiment l'est?

Accepted Answer

No, in French, adverbs like vraiment (really) almost always follow the conjugated verb. Furthermore, the object pronoun l' must stay glued to the front of the verb est, so the only correct order here is pronoun, verb, adverb: Elle l'est vraiment.

Elle te semble vexée ? Elle l'est vraiment.

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