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Eux, ils ont connu la faim et la privation.

Eux, ils ont connu la faim et la privation.
As for them, they experienced hunger and deprivation.
From Lesson 400:Zero article after multiple negation (ni... ni...)·French

Questions & Answers about Eux, ils ont connu la faim et la privation.

Why does the sentence start with Eux, ils instead of just Ils?
Eux is a stressed pronoun used here for emphasis. Doubling it up with the subject pronoun ils highlights a contrast, translating roughly to "As for them, they..." or "They, on the other hand...". You will often see this when shifting the topic to a new group of people.
I thought connaître meant "to know" a person or place. Why is it translated as "experienced" here?
While connaître typically means being familiar with someone or somewhere, its meaning shifts slightly when paired with abstract nouns or life conditions (like la faim, la pauvreté, or le succès). In these contexts, it means "to experience" or "to live through".
Why are there definite articles before faim and privation when English just says "hunger and deprivation"?
French requires definite articles (le, la, les) before abstract nouns when talking about them in a general sense. English typically leaves the article out for broad concepts like hunger, love, or time.
If this were a negative sentence using ni... ni..., would we drop the articles before faim and privation?
No, you would keep them: Ils n'ont connu ni la faim ni la privation. The rule about omitting articles after ni... ni... only applies to indefinite (un, une, des) and partitive (du, de la, de l') articles. Definite articles are always retained, even in multiple negations!

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