Breakdown of Nous marchons les pieds nus depuis une heure et demie.
une
a / an (feminine)
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
l'heure
the hour / o'clock (f)
marcher
to walk
et demie
half past
depuis
since/for
nu
bare
le pied
the foot
Questions & Answers about Nous marchons les pieds nus depuis une heure et demie.
Why is nus plural in les pieds nus? I thought nu was invariable.
Why does demie in une heure et demie agree in gender but not in number?
Why is the present tense (Nous marchons) used to translate 'We have been walking'?
When an action started in the past and is still continuing into the present, French uses the present tense paired with depuis (for or since). English uses the present perfect continuous (have been walking), but translating that literally into French with a past tense would imply the walking has already finished.
Why does the sentence use les pieds (the feet) instead of nos pieds (our feet)?
When talking about body parts, French strongly prefers using definite articles (le, la, les) rather than possessive adjectives like nos if it is already obvious who the body part belongs to. Since the subject is Nous, it is clear whose feet are bare.
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