Marie prend soin de la plante.

Marie

Breakdown of Marie prend soin de la plante.

• la plante: the plant
• prendre soin de: to take care of

Questions & Answers about Marie prend soin de la plante.

Why is it prend and not prends?

Because the subject is Marie, which is third-person singular (she).

The verb prendre in the present tense goes like this:

• je prends = I take
• tu prends = you take
• il/elle/on prend = he/she/one takes

So with Marie, you use elle forms, which gives Marie prend.

What does prendre soin de mean as a whole?

Prendre soin de is a fixed expression meaning to take care of.

Even though prendre by itself usually means to take, you should learn prendre soin de as one unit:

• prendre soin de quelqu’un = to take care of someone
• prendre soin de quelque chose = to take care of something

So in this sentence, don’t translate word by word too literally. The whole phrase is what matters.

Why is there a de after soin?

Because the expression is prendre soin de. The de is required by the phrase.

So you say:

• Marie prend soin de la plante.
• Il prend soin de son chien.
• Nous prenons soin des enfants.

You cannot just remove the de. It is part of the structure.

Why does it say and not just ?