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Breakdown of Ne tarde pas à répondre, car ils veulent connaître la vérité le plus tôt possible.
tu
you
ne ... pas
not
vouloir
to want
ils
they
tôt
early
à
at
répondre
to answer
car
because
la vérité
the truth
connaître
to know
le plus
the most
possible
possible
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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 Ne tarde pas à répondre, car ils veulent connaître la vérité le plus tôt possible.
Why is the phrase Ne tarde pas used instead of a simpler form like Ne sois pas en retard?
Ne tarde pas literally means don’t delay. Tarder conveys the idea of taking too long to do something or putting something off. It emphasizes haste more strongly than a phrase about being late in general (such as être en retard).
Why do we say Ne tarde pas à répondre with à répondre after tarder?
In French, certain verbs require a preposition before another verb. Tarder is often followed by à + infinitive. So when the verb répondre follows tarder, you have tarder à répondre = to delay in responding.
Can we replace car with parce que?
Yes, you can say ... à répondre, parce qu’ils veulent connaître la vérité..., and it would mean the same thing. Car is slightly more formal or literary, while parce que is more common in everyday speech.
Why do we use le plus tôt possible instead of just le plus tôt?
Le plus tôt possible stresses that it’s as early as possible. It’s an expression meaning as soon as possible. Simply le plus tôt might suggest earliest, but adding possible indicates the strongest level of urgency or immediacy.
What is the difference between veulent connaître and veulent savoir?
Both can mean want to know, but connaître can imply finding out or becoming familiar with, while savoir conveys having knowledge or being informed. In many contexts they’re interchangeable, but connaître la vérité often sounds more like to get acquainted with the truth or to find out the truth.