Breakdown of « Le ciel est bleu », récite-t-il.
Questions & Answers about « Le ciel est bleu », récite-t-il.
Why is there a -t- inserted in récite-t-il?
This is a euphonic -t-, added simply to make the phrase easier to pronounce. When inverting a verb that ends in a vowel (like the e in récite) and a pronoun that starts with a vowel (like il, elle, or on), you must insert a -t- between them, joined by hyphens. Is the subject-verb inversion mandatory here? Could I write il récite instead?
In written French, inversion in a reporting clause (an incise) is mandatory. You cannot write il récite after the quote. In casual spoken French, people usually avoid this structure entirely, preferring to introduce the quote first, such as Il récite : « Le ciel est bleu ». Why is the comma placed after the closing quotation mark (»,) instead of inside?
French punctuation rules differ from American English. In French, the comma separating a quotation from its reporting clause must go outside the closing guillemet (»). What are the spacing rules for the French quotation marks (« »)?
In standard French typography, you must always put a space after the opening guillemet («) and before the closing one (»). This contrasts with English quotation marks, which hug the text tightly. Learn « Le ciel est bleu », récite-t-il and more in French
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