Breakdown of La marionnette de bois et de ficelle fonctionne bien.
et
and
de
of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)
bien
well
la
her, it (feminine direct object pronoun)
le bois
the wood
fonctionner
to function
la marionnette
the puppet
la ficelle
the string
Questions & Answers about La marionnette de bois et de ficelle fonctionne bien.
Why does the sentence use de bois instead of en bois to mean made of wood?
Both are grammatically correct when describing the material something is made of. En is more common in modern everyday speech (like une table en bois), while de is slightly more traditional or literary. This lesson contrasts de (material) with à (characteristic), showing that de bois specifically emphasizes the physical matter the puppet is constructed from.
Could we say la marionnette à bois et à ficelle instead?
Why is de repeated before ficelle?
In French, the short prepositions à, de, and en must be repeated before every single noun in a list or conjunction. While in English we can say made of wood and string, in French you must explicitly say de bois et de ficelle.
Why does this sentence use fonctionne for works instead of travaille?
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