J’ai encore besoin de toi pour préparer la décoration de son anniversaire.

I

Breakdown of J’ai encore besoin de toi pour préparer la décoration de son anniversaire.

• avoir: to have
• préparer: to prepare
• de: of
• pour: in order to
• l'anniversaire: the birthday
• avoir besoin de: to need
• toi: you
• la décoration: the decoration

Questions & Answers about J’ai encore besoin de toi pour préparer la décoration de son anniversaire.

Why is encore used here instead of another word like toujours?

The word encore in this context means still rather than again. You could have used toujours here as well (it also means still), but encore is very common and natural in everyday speech for expressing that the need is ongoing.

Why do we say besoin de toi and not something like besoin toi?

The verb phrase avoir besoin (to need) is followed by de before a noun or pronoun, so you say J’ai besoin de toi (literally I have need of you). You cannot drop the de, and you must keep the structure avoir besoin de [something/someone].

Why is pour préparer one correct way to say to prepare?

In French, pour is commonly used before an infinitive to express in order to. So, pour préparer translates to in order to prepare or simply to prepare. It indicates the purpose of why you still need that person.

Does la décoration refer to all decorations, or just one decoration item?

In French, la décoration can be used in a general sense to mean the overall decoration (like the décor). If you mean individual decorative items, you might say les décorations (plural). However, la décoration is perfectly normal when talking about planning the entire decorative arrangement for an event.

Why is it son anniversaire and not son fête?

While fête can mean celebration or party, anniversaire specifically means birthday (or anniversary in other contexts). So to refer to a birthday party, French typically uses anniversaire rather than fête, unless you are talking very generally about a celebration.