Log inSign up

Il est sorti sur la charpente avec son harnais.

Il est sorti sur la charpente avec son harnais.
He went out on the framework with his harness.
From Lesson 450:Auxiliary switch with motion verbs (être vs. avoir)·French

Questions & Answers about Il est sorti sur la charpente avec son harnais.

Why does this sentence use est sorti instead of a sorti?
Sortir is a verb of motion that changes its auxiliary depending on its role. Here, it is intransitive: there is no direct object because he simply went out. When used intransitively, it takes être. If he had taken something out (like taking the trash out: il a sorti les poubelles), it would become transitive and use avoir.
What exactly does charpente refer to here?
A charpente is the structural framework or skeleton of a building, usually the wooden or metal roof beams. The mention of a harnais (harness) gives us the context of a worker climbing out onto these high, exposed beams.
Does the 'h' at the start of harnais trigger a liaison with son?
No, it doesn't. Harnais starts with an aspirated 'h'. This means it behaves like a regular consonant. You do not pronounce the 'n' in son as a linked sound to the 'h', and you would say le harnais, never l'harnais. It takes son simply because it is a masculine singular noun.
Why use the preposition sur instead of dans with charpente?
Sur (on) is used because a charpente (framework) is an open physical structure you climb or stand on top of. If you used dans, it would imply being enclosed inside the actual material or an enclosed room, which wouldn't make sense for an exposed roof structure.

Learn Il est sorti sur la charpente avec son harnais and more in French

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning French →