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J'aime lire le livre de Paul.

J'aime lire le livre de Paul.
I like to read Paul's book.
FromLesson 3inHardcore French

Breakdown of J'aime lire le livre de Paul.

je
I
Paul
Paul
aimer
to like
lire
to read
le livre
the book
de
of

Questions & Answers about J'aime lire le livre de Paul.

Why is lire in the infinitive form here?
In French, when one verb follows another (such as aimer, which means "to like" or "to love"), the second verb is usually in its infinitive form. Therefore, we say J'aime lire ("I like to read") rather than J'aime lis.
Why do we use le livre instead of something like un livre?
In this sentence, le livre indicates a specific book we are talking about—Paul's book. Using un livre ("a book") would sound like you're talking about any random book rather than Paul’s particular book.
Why do we say le livre de Paul instead of something like "Paul's book" in French?
French doesn't use the possessive 's construction. Instead, it expresses possession with de ("of"). So to say "Paul's book," it's common to say le livre de Paul, literally "the book of Paul."
Is there a reason we don't say J'aime de lire?
Yes. Certain verbs in French (like aimer, adorer, détester, etc.) are directly followed by the infinitive of another verb without adding de. For example, j'aime manger, j'adore discuter, je déteste courir—and similarly, j'aime lire.
Does de become d' if the next word starts with a vowel?
Generally, de becomes d' before a word starting with a vowel or a silent h (for example, d'Anne, d'Hélène). However, because Paul begins with a consonant sound, de stays as de and does not contract.
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“How does grammatical gender work in French?”
Every French noun is either masculine or feminine, and this affects the articles and adjectives used with it. "Le" is used with masculine nouns and "la" with feminine ones. Adjectives also change form to match — for example, "petit" (masc.) becomes "petite" (fem.).

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