Question 1

Since the current lesson is about "les uns... les autres", how would I say "they are harming each other" using the verb from this sentence?

Accepted Answer

Because nuire requires the preposition à (as seen in nuire à notre groupe), you must include that preposition in the reciprocal phrase. You would say Ils se nuisent les uns aux autres. You cannot simply use les uns les autres when the verb takes an indirect object.

Question 2

Why is there an à after nuire? In English we just say "to harm our group" without a preposition.

Accepted Answer

Unlike the English verb "to harm," the French verb nuire requires an indirect object introduced by à. It often helps to translate it in your head as "to do harm to" so you remember to always include the preposition.

Question 3

If I wanted to replace à notre groupe with a pronoun to say "starts to harm it", which pronoun would I use?

Accepted Answer

Because nuire is followed by à, you need an indirect object pronoun. Since a group is a collective noun made up of people, you would generally use lui, making the sentence: L'hostilité commence à lui nuire. If you were treating it as a purely inanimate concept you could use y (commence à y nuire), but lui is much more common for a group of people.

Question 4

I often mix up which preposition to use after verbs before an infinitive. Is it always commencer à?

Accepted Answer

In modern spoken and written French, yes. You use commencer à followed by an infinitive. You might encounter commencer de in older classical literature, but for your own active use, always stick to commencer à.

L'hostilité commence à nuire à notre groupe.

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