Breakdown of Quand l'imprimante ne fonctionne pas, Paul la répare immédiatement.
Paul
Paul
ne ... pas
not
quand
when
immédiatement
immediately
fonctionner
to work
réparer
to repair
la
it
l'imprimante
the printer
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Questions & Answers about Quand l'imprimante ne fonctionne pas, Paul la répare immédiatement.
Why is the article before imprimante written as l’ instead of la?
In French, when la (the feminine singular definite article) comes before a noun beginning with a vowel or mute h, you drop the a and replace it with an apostrophe. This process is called elision. So la imprimante → l’ + imprimante.
How does the negative construction ne … pas work around fonctionne?
To negate a simple present-tense verb in French, you place ne before the conjugated verb and pas after it. Because fonctionne begins with a consonant, you keep ne intact.
Structure: ne + fonctionne + pas
Result: l’imprimante ne fonctionne pas
What is the function of la in Paul la répare immédiatement?
Here, la is a direct object pronoun replacing l’imprimante (feminine singular). Instead of repeating l’imprimante, French uses la to avoid redundancy.
Why does the pronoun la appear before répare instead of after?
In French, clitic object pronouns (me, te, le, la, nous, vous, les) always precede the conjugated verb. This differs from English, where object pronouns follow the verb.
What tense are fonctionne and répare, and why do they end in -e?
Both are in the présent de l’indicatif (present indicative). They come from regular -er verbs:
- fonctionner → il/elle fonctionne
- réparer → il/elle répare
The 3rd person singular ending for -er verbs in the present is always -e.
Could we swap quand with lorsque here?
Yes. lorsque is a slightly more formal synonym of quand meaning when.
Alternate: Lorsque l’imprimante ne fonctionne pas, Paul la répare immédiatement.
Does immédiatement have to come at the end of the sentence?
Not strictly, but it’s most natural there. French adverbs of manner/time often follow the verb or the entire verb group. You could also say:
- Paul la répare immédiatement.
- Immédiatement, Paul la répare.
Ending the sentence with immédiatement emphasizes the promptness.
Why doesn’t Paul have an article before his name?
French proper names (like Paul) don’t take definite or indefinite articles in normal usage. You simply say Paul.
Can we invert the two clauses and say Paul la répare immédiatement quand l’imprimante ne fonctionne pas?
Yes, that word order is grammatically correct. Starting with the quand clause sets the time frame first, while beginning with Paul focuses on the subject’s action. Both are acceptable.