Breakdown of On leur a reproché leur mauvais comportement pour l'audimat.
on
one / we (informal)
pour
for
avoir
to have
leur
their (singular and plural forms: leur, leurs)
mauvais
bad
le comportement
the behavior
reprocher
to reproach
l'audimat
the ratings (m)
Questions & Answers about On leur a reproché leur mauvais comportement pour l'audimat.
The English translation says 'They were criticized' in the passive voice. Why does the French sentence use the active voice with on?
This is the core of this lesson! The verb reprocher takes an indirect object for the person being criticized (reprocher quelque chose à quelqu'un). In French, an indirect object can never become the subject of a passive sentence, so you cannot translate word-for-word and say ils ont été reprochés. Instead, you must use the active voice with the impersonal pronoun on as the subject, keeping 'them' (leur) as the indirect object.
We see the word leur twice here. Are they doing the same grammatical job?
No, they serve two entirely different purposes. The first leur is an indirect object pronoun meaning 'to them' (placed directly before the auxiliary verb). The second leur is a possessive adjective meaning 'their' (placed before the noun phrase mauvais comportement).
Could we make the direct object the subject of a passive sentence instead?
What exactly is l'audimat?
L'audimat is a common French term for television or radio ratings (audience measurements). It was originally a brand name combining the words audience and automatique. In this context, it implies that the bad behavior was a deliberate stunt to get higher TV ratings or attract more viewers.
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