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Quand est-ce que la chouette pond ses œufs ?

Quand est-ce que la chouette pond ses œufs ?
When does the owl lay its eggs?
From Lesson 377:Emphasizing with prepositions (C'est... que)·French

Questions & Answers about Quand est-ce que la chouette pond ses œufs ?

How does est-ce que relate to the c'est ... que emphasis structure from this lesson?
The phrase est-ce que is actually the inverted question form of the c'est ... que cleft structure! When you ask Quand est-ce que..., you are literally asking 'When is it that...'. It uses the exact same emphasizing mechanics you are learning now, just flipped into a question format.
I always forget: do you pronounce the 'f' in œufs?
No, both the 'f' and the 's' are completely silent in the plural word œufs. The vowel sound also changes slightly to rhyme with peu. You only pronounce the 'f' in the singular form, un œuf.
Is chouette interchangeable with hibou when talking about owls?
Not quite! Everyday French distinguishes between the two based on appearance. Un hibou has ear tufts (like a great horned owl), while une chouette has a smooth, round head without tufts (like a barn owl or snowy owl). Note that chouette is a grammatically feminine word, so it always takes la regardless of the biological sex of the bird.
What verb does pond come from?
It comes from the verb pondre, which specifically means 'to lay' when talking about eggs. It is a completely regular -re verb. For the third-person singular subject la chouette, you simply drop the -re from the infinitive to get the conjugated form pond.

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