Question 1

Why is there an l' before un? In English, we just say "One speaks".

Accepted Answer

In this contrast structure, French treats un and autre as pronouns that require a definite article (le, la, or les). Since both start with a vowel, they become l'un and l'autre. You can think of it as literally saying "The one... the other."

Question 2

Would it ever be correct to use "les uns... les autres" instead?

Accepted Answer

Only if you want to contrast two groups rather than two individuals. L'un... l'autre is used for exactly two singular subjects. If you meant "Some speak a lot, others are silent," you would use the plural: Les uns parlent beaucoup, les autres sont silencieux.

Question 3

How do we know the gender of the people being talked about here?

Accepted Answer

By looking at the first pronoun and the adjective at the end of the sentence. L'un is masculine (the feminine is l'une), and silencieux is the masculine singular form. This tells us the subjects are either two males, a mixed male/female pair (which defaults to masculine), or two grammatically masculine nouns. If referring to two females, it would be L'une parle beaucoup, l'autre est silencieuse.

Question 4

Just as a quick refresher, why do we use "beaucoup" here instead of "très" or "beaucoup de"?

Accepted Answer

Beaucoup is used on its own here because it directly modifies the verb parle (speaks a lot). You use très (very) before adjectives or adverbs (e.g., très silencieux), and beaucoup de (a lot of) before a noun to express a quantity (e.g., beaucoup de bruit).

L'un parle beaucoup, l'autre est silencieux.

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