Learn French: La plupart des magiciens finissent par se téléporter loin de la bataille. - Most magicians end up teleporting far from the battle.

Word

La plupart des magiciens finissent par se téléporter loin de la bataille.

Meaning

Most magicians end up teleporting far from the battle.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

French

Lesson

Concession and hypothesis (quand bien même)

Breakdown of La plupart des magiciens finissent par se téléporter loin de la bataille.

Questions & Answers about La plupart des magiciens finissent par se téléporter loin de la bataille.

Why is the verb plural (finissent) after 'La plupart'? Doesn't 'la plupart' act as a singular subject?

Unlike collective nouns like le groupe which take a singular verb, la plupart agrees with its complement. Since it is followed by the plural des magiciens, the verb must be in the plural (finissent).

How does the phrase 'finissent par' work here? Can I use 'finissent de' instead?

To express 'to end up doing something' or 'to eventually do something', you must use the structure finir par followed by an infinitive. If you used finissent de se téléporter, the meaning would change to 'they finish teleporting' (completing the action, rather than describing the final outcome).

Why is it 'se téléporter' and not just 'téléporter'?

The verb se téléporter is reflexive here because the magicians are teleporting themselves. If you left out the se, the sentence would imply they are teleporting something or someone else, which would require an external direct object.

If the subject were 'je', would the reflexive pronoun 'se' stay the same since the verb is in the infinitive?

No, reflexive pronouns must always agree with the subject performing the action, even when the verb is in the infinitive. If the sentence were about you, it would change to: Je finis par me téléporter.