Breakdown of Il faut connaître les amis de Marie.
Marie
Marie
l'ami
the friend
de
of
falloir
to be necessary
connaître
to know
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Questions & Answers about Il faut connaître les amis de Marie.
Why does the sentence use Il faut instead of something like On doit or Nous devons?
Il faut is an impersonal construction meaning It is necessary / one must. It doesn’t refer to a specific subject (like “we” or “one”). In contrast, On doit or Nous devons directly involves the speaker, but Il faut expresses a general obligation.
What does connaître mean here, and how is it different from savoir?
In French, connaître means to be familiar with or to know personally, especially with people and places. Savoir usually means to know a fact or to know how to do something. So connaître les amis de Marie is about being acquainted with her friends.
Why do we say les amis de Marie instead of des amis de Marie?
Marie’s friends are a specific group, so they take the definite article les (referring to a particular set of friends). Des amis de Marie would imply some unspecified friends among Marie’s friends. But here, we want the specific sense: It’s necessary to know Marie’s friends.
What is the function of de Marie in this sentence?
De Marie indicates possession in French, just like Marie’s in English. It specifies whose friends we’re talking about.
Can we change the word order and say Il faut les amis de Marie connaître?
No. In French, Il faut is followed by an infinitive verb. The correct structure is Il faut + infinitive + complement, so Il faut connaître les amis de Marie is the standard word order.
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