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J'envoie un cadeau à Paul.

J'envoie un cadeau à Paul.
I send a gift to Paul.
FromLesson 6inHardcore French

Breakdown of J'envoie un cadeau à Paul.

je
I
Paul
Paul
à
to
envoyer
to send
le cadeau
the gift

Questions & Answers about J'envoie un cadeau à Paul.

Why do we say J’envoie instead of just J’envois?
In French, envoie is the correct conjugation of envoyer (to send) for je (I) in the present tense. The form j’envois would be incorrect. The third-person singular (he/she/it sends) form is il/elle envoie, which looks similar, but the -s ending does not apply in the je form here.
Why does the sentence have à Paul at the end?
In French, when you send something to someone, you typically use envoyer quelque chose à quelqu’un. The à Paul part clarifies who is receiving the gift, just as “to Paul” does in English.
Why is it un cadeau and not une cadeau?
In French, cadeau (gift) is a masculine noun, so it must be preceded by the masculine article un. Some nouns are feminine and use une, but cadeau is masculine.
Can we replace à Paul with lui?
Yes, you can say Je lui envoie un cadeau (I am sending him a gift). The pronoun lui replaces à Paul, making the sentence less repetitive. However, if you want to emphasize the recipient’s name, you’d keep à Paul.
Is this sentence in the past, present, or future tense?
It is in the present tense. J’envoie indicates that the action is happening right now, similar to I send or I am sending in English.
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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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