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Ces filles synchronisent-elles l'apnée pour cette figure ?

Ces filles synchronisent-elles l'apnée pour cette figure ?
Are these girls synchronizing the breath-holding for this figure?
From Lesson 471:Turns and duties (c'est à moi de)·French

Questions & Answers about Ces filles synchronisent-elles l'apnée pour cette figure ?

Why is there an -elles after the verb when the subject Ces filles is already at the beginning?
This is called complex inversion, and it is used in formal questions. When your subject is a noun (like Ces filles) rather than a pronoun, you cannot simply swap the subject and the verb. Instead, you state the noun subject, add the verb, and then attach the matching pronoun (elles) with a hyphen.
Does l'apnée mean the medical condition "apnea" here?
Not in this context. While l'apnée does mean "apnea" medically, in everyday French it is the standard word for "breath-holding", especially underwater. It is also the name for the sport of freediving.
What does figure mean in this sentence? Is it a number or shape?
While figure can mean a face or a shape, in the context of sports and dance (like artistic swimming, which fits with holding breath), it refers to a specific "move", "trick", or "routine".
Do I pronounce the -t at the end of synchronisent?
Yes, because of the inversion. Even though the -ent ending on third-person plural verbs is normally silent, when it is hyphenated to a vowel-starting pronoun like -elles, you must make the liaison. It sounds like "synchronise-TELL".

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