Demande à Marie si elle veut répondre à ma question.

Ask Marie if she wants to answer my question.

Breakdown of Demande à Marie si elle veut répondre à ma question.

• Marie: Marie
• elle: she
• ma: my
• vouloir: to want
• à: to
• la question: the question
• demander: to ask
• si: if
• répondre: to answer

Questions & Answers about Demande à Marie si elle veut répondre à ma question.

Why is demande in the imperative form here?

Because the sentence issues a direct command. In French, the imperative form (demande) is used when telling someone to do something. It’s formed by using the verb demander in the second-person singular imperative without the subject pronoun (i.e., no tu in writing or speech).

Why do we say à Marie instead of just Marie?

In French, when you tell someone to ask another person something, you use demander à quelqu’un (ask someone). The preposition à indicates whom the request is directed to, so it’s à Marie.

What is the function of si in this sentence?

The word si here means if. In French, you use si to introduce indirect questions that can be answered by yes or no. So it’s asking whether Marie is willing to do something (if she wants to respond).

Why do we say elle veut répondre instead of something like elle répond?

We use veut répondre to express the idea of wanting to answer. The verb vouloir (to want) indicates Marie's willingness. If you just said elle répond, it would imply she is already answering, rather than asking whether she wants to answer.

Why is it ma question instead of mon question?

In French, the word question is feminine (une question). Therefore, the correct possessive adjective for a feminine noun in the singular is ma, not mon.