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Il parle souvent à Marie.

Il parle souvent à Marie.
He often talks to Marie.
FromLesson 4inHardcore French
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Breakdown of Il parle souvent à Marie.

Marie
Marie
il
he
souvent
often
à
to
parler
to talk
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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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Questions & Answers about Il parle souvent à Marie.

Why is the verb spelled parle instead of parles or parlent?
Because il (he) uses the third-person singular form in the present tense of parler. For il, the ending is -e, hence il parle.
Does Il always mean he?
Il usually means he when referring to a person. It can also mean it when referring to a masculine noun (e.g., Il est grand for It is big, when talking about something masculine), but in this sentence, it’s clearly referring to a person.
What part of speech is souvent, and where should it be placed?
Souvent is an adverb meaning often. It typically goes after the conjugated verb (as in Il parle souvent à Marie), but you can also place it at the beginning of the sentence for emphasis (Souvent, il parle à Marie).
Why is there an à before Marie?
In French, parler (to speak) is usually followed by à before mentioning the person you’re speaking to, as in parler à quelqu’un. Here, Marie is the person being addressed, so we use à Marie.
Are there any pronunciation tips for Il parle souvent à Marie?
Make sure the final -e in parle is mostly silent. The word souvent is pronounced roughly like soo-von, with a nasal -on sound at the end. Also, be careful to pronounce the name Marie with a French r, similar to a soft gargling sound.