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Nous payons la facture, et ensuite nous la rangeons avec les autres papiers.

Nous payons la facture, et ensuite nous la rangeons avec les autres papiers.
We pay the bill, and then we file it with the other papers.
FromLesson 20inHardcore French

Breakdown of Nous payons la facture, et ensuite nous la rangeons avec les autres papiers.

et
and
avec
with
nous
we
ensuite
then
payer
to pay
autre
other
la
it
le papier
the paper
la facture
the bill
ranger
to file

Questions & Answers about Nous payons la facture, et ensuite nous la rangeons avec les autres papiers.

Why is the subject pronoun nous repeated before la rangeons?
In French each independent clause needs its own explicit subject pronoun. You can’t drop nous as in some pro-drop languages. So you say Nous payons la facture, et ensuite nous la rangeons rather than Nous payons la facture, et ensuite rangeons-la. (In the imperative you can drop the pronoun: Range-la.)
Why is the object pronoun la placed before the verb in nous la rangeons rather than after?
French direct object pronouns precede the verb in simple (and compound) tenses. Unlike English (“we file it”), French uses nous la rangeons. You only attach pronouns after the verb in affirmative commands (imperative).
Why is the pronoun la and not le in nous la rangeons?
Because facture is a feminine noun (la facture). Object pronouns must agree in gender and number: la for singular feminine, le for singular masculine, les for plural.
Why isn’t la elided to l’ before rangeons (i.e. why not l’rangeons)?
Elision (dropping the e and replacing with an apostrophe) happens only if the following word begins with a vowel or mute h. Since rangeons starts with a consonant r, you keep the full form la.
Why is there an e in rangeons? Should it be rangons?
French spelling inserts an e after a “g” before a, o or u to maintain the soft “g” sound (as in gentil). Without that e, rangons would have the hard “g” like in “golf.”
What’s the difference between et ensuite, starting the second clause with ensuite, and using puis?
  • et ensuite literally “and then,” keeping the coordination with et.
  • Starting with Ensuite, you make it a sequence marker: Nous payons…, Ensuite nous la rangeons.
  • Puis is a concise “then/next” connector: Nous payons la facture, puis nous la rangeons. All three are correct; choose by register or style.
Can we say on paie instead of nous payons to sound more natural?
Yes. In spoken French on is the preferred informal “we.” You’d say On paie la facture, et ensuite on la range. Nous payons is more formal or written.
How would you express this sentence in the passé composé?

You’d put the object pronoun before the auxiliary and make the past participle agree:
Nous avons payé la facture, et ensuite nous l’avons rangée avec les autres papiers.
Here l’ = la facture, and rangée agrees (feminine singular) because the pronoun precedes avoir.

Could we say avec d’autres papiers instead of avec les autres papiers?

Both are possible but slightly different:

  • avec les autres papiers refers to a known, specific set of papers.
  • avec d’autres papiers means “with some other papers,” more indefinite or unspecific. Choose les autres when you and your listener know exactly which papers you mean.
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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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