Question 1

We are learning to drop the article for professions. Why is there a Le before lieutenant here?

Accepted Answer

The "zero article" rule only applies when the profession describes someone's status after the verb être, such as in Il est lieutenant (He is a lieutenant). Because lieutenant is the subject of this sentence performing the action, it acts as a regular noun and requires the definite article Le.

Question 2

Why does the sentence use aux soldats instead of à les soldats?

Accepted Answer

In French, whenever the preposition à (to) is followed by the plural definite article les (the), they must contract into aux. Writing or saying à les is always grammatically incorrect, even though it literally translates to "to the".

Question 3

Could we say Le lieutenant a parlé avec les soldats instead?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but it changes the nuance slightly. Parler avec (to speak with) emphasizes a two-way, interactive discussion. Parler à (to speak to) is more standard for generally addressing someone, and it makes perfect sense here for a military officer communicating downwards to his troops.

Question 4

Lieutenant is spelled exactly the same as in English. Is it pronounced the same way?

Accepted Answer

Not at all! Unlike the American "loo-tenant" or British "lef-tenant", the French pronunciation is broken down into three phonetic syllables: lieu-te-nant (roughly sounding like "lyuh-tuh-nahn", with a nasal vowel at the end).

Le lieutenant a parlé aux soldats.

Breakdown of Le lieutenant a parlé aux soldats.

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