Word
On nous a interdit de parler dans l'oreillette.
Meaning
We were forbidden to speak into the earpiece.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of On nous a interdit de parler dans l'oreillette.
on
one / we (informal)
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
dans
in, inside
avoir
to have
Questions & Answers about On nous a interdit de parler dans l'oreillette.
Why does the French sentence use on instead of the passive voice like in the English translation?
In French, verbs that take an indirect object (like interdire à quelqu'un) generally cannot be put into the passive voice with the person as the subject. You cannot say Nous avons été interdits. Instead, French uses the active voice with the indefinite pronoun on (one/they) to express the English passive 'We were forbidden'.
Is nous acting as a direct or indirect object here?
It is an indirect object! The underlying structure is interdire à quelqu'un de faire quelque chose (to forbid someone from doing something). Because nous replaces à nous, it serves as the indirect object pronoun placed before the conjugated verb a interdit.
Why is there a de before parler?
It is required by the verb phrase. Interdire needs the preposition de to connect it to a following infinitive verb. Memorizing the full pattern helps: interdire à [person] de [infinitive].
Why use dans for 'into' the earpiece?
When talking about speaking into a communication device like an earpiece, a microphone, or a telephone, French naturally uses the preposition dans (in). You are literally saying you are speaking 'in' the device, just like parler dans le micro (to speak into the microphone).