Question 1

Why is it à elles instead of using the indirect object pronoun leur (nous leur faisons appel)?

Accepted Answer

In French, certain verbs and verbal expressions followed by à do not allow you to put the pronoun in front of the verb. Because faire appel à is one of these non-cliticizing expressions, you must keep the preposition à after the verb and use a stressed pronoun for people, which gives us faisons appel à elles.

Question 2

What is the difference between faire appel à and simply using the verb appeler?

Accepted Answer

Appeler usually means to call someone on the phone or call out their name. Faire appel à is a figurative expression meaning to call upon, appeal to, or resort to someone's help or services. Here, it means we are asking the students for assistance or participation, not just shouting their names.

Question 3

Why does sont là translate to 'are here' instead of 'are there'?

Accepted Answer

While ici strictly means 'here' and là strictly means 'there', everyday spoken French frequently uses là to mean 'here' when talking about someone's physical presence or availability. Saying someone est là simply means they have arrived or are present in the immediate vicinity.

Question 4

Would the pronoun change if we were talking about male students (les étudiants) or a mixed group?

Accepted Answer

Yes, the stressed pronoun must agree in gender and number with the noun it replaces. For an all-female group like les étudiantes, we use elles. If the group were all male or a mix of men and women, the masculine plural stressed pronoun would be required, making it nous faisons appel à eux.

Les étudiantes sont là, nous faisons appel à elles.

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