Log inSign up

Il a brûlé toutes ses lettres.

Il a brûlé toutes ses lettres.
He burned all his letters.
From Lesson 442:Verbs that change meaning when reflexive·French

Questions & Answers about Il a brûlé toutes ses lettres.

Since this lesson is about pronominal verbs, what would happen if we used the pronominal form se brûler instead?
In this sentence, brûler is a standard transitive verb because he is burning an object. If he burned himself physically, it would be the literal pronominal il s'est brûlé. However, because this lesson focuses on idiomatic shifts, it is useful to know that se brûler can also idiomatically mean to ruin one's own reputation, to blow one's cover, or to burn out.
Why does toutes come before ses, and why is it spelled with an -es?
The word tout acts as a pre-determiner, meaning it must come before possessive adjectives like ses or definite articles like les. It must also agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies. Because lettre is feminine and plural, tout takes the feminine plural form toutes.
Is the verb brûler always conjugated with avoir in the passé composé?
Yes, when used transitively (burning a direct object, like the letters here) or intransitively (e.g., the house burned), it takes avoir. It only uses être as its auxiliary when it is made pronominal, like il s'est brûlé (he burned himself).
Do you pronounce the final consonant sound in toutes here?
Yes! The feminine forms toute and toutes always have a distinctly pronounced -t sound at the end. This is a helpful contrast to the masculine plural tous, where the final consonant is usually silent when placed directly before a noun.

Learn Il a brûlé toutes ses lettres 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 →