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Paul et Marie nagent dans l'eau.

Paul et Marie nagent dans l'eau.
Paul and Marie swim in the water.
FromLesson 12inHardcore French

Breakdown of Paul et Marie nagent dans l'eau.

Paul
Paul
Marie
Marie
l'eau
the water
et
and
dans
in
nager
to swim

Questions & Answers about Paul et Marie nagent dans l'eau.

What does nagent mean and how is it used in this sentence?
Nagent is the third person plural form of the verb nager, which means “to swim.” In this sentence, it indicates that both Paul and Marie are swimming. Although the ending -ent is written for grammatical reasons, it is not pronounced.
Why does nager change to nagent in this sentence?
In French, verbs must agree with their subjects. For a third person plural subject like Paul et Marie, nager is conjugated by adding -ent, resulting in nagent. This is a standard rule for regular -er verbs in the present tense.
What does Paul et Marie mean?
Paul et Marie means “Paul and Marie.” The word et is the French equivalent of “and,” used to link the two names as a compound subject.
Why is dans used in dans l'eau instead of another preposition?
The preposition dans means “in” or “inside” and is used to indicate that someone or something is contained within another thing. In this case, it shows that Paul and Marie are swimming in the water. It specifies location in a way that other prepositions would not.
Why do we write l'eau instead of la eau?
In French, when a feminine singular noun that starts with a vowel follows the definite article la, the article is contracted to l' for easier pronunciation. Since eau (water) begins with a vowel, la eau becomes l'eau.
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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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