Question 1

What does aux mean here, and why can’t I write à les invités?

Accepted Answer

aux is the mandatory contraction of à + les (to the). French always contracts:
- à + le → au: Marie parle au professeur.
- à + la → à la: Marie parle à la directrice.
- à + l’ → à l’: Marie parle à l’invité.
- à + les → aux: Marie parle aux invités.

You cannot write à les.

Question 2

Why is it parle and not parles or parlent?

Accepted Answer

Because Marie is third-person singular. Present tense of parler:
- je parle
- tu parles
- il/elle parle
- nous parlons
- vous parlez
- ils/elles parlent

Note: parle/parles/parlent are all pronounced [paʁl]; the endings -s and -ent are silent.

Question 3

How do I say “Marie is speaking to the guests now” in French? Is a special progressive form needed?

Accepted Answer

French usually uses the simple present for both “speaks” and “is speaking,” so Marie parle aux invités maintenant already covers both. To insist on the ongoing action, you can say Marie est en train de parler aux invités (maintenant).

Question 4

Should it be parler à or parler avec?

Accepted Answer

- parler à quelqu’un = speak/talk to someone (address them)
- parler avec quelqu’un = speak/talk with someone (emphasizes a conversation)
Both are common and correct: Marie parle à/avec les invités.  
Tip: to say what she is talking about, use parler de: Marie parle du programme aux invités.

Question 5

Where can maintenant go in the sentence?

Accepted Answer

All of these are natural, with slight differences in focus:
- Marie parle aux invités maintenant. (neutral; “now” at the end)
- Marie parle maintenant aux invités. (slight focus on the timing)
- Maintenant, Marie parle aux invités. (fronted time frame; more contrastive)

Question 6

Can I replace aux invités with a pronoun?

Accepted Answer

Yes: use the indirect object pronoun leur (to them).  
- Marie leur parle maintenant.  
Placement: the pronoun goes before the conjugated verb. With negation: Marie ne leur parle pas maintenant.

Question 7

Why not use y to replace aux invités?

Accepted Answer

y replaces à + thing/place/idea, not people. For people, use lui (to him/her) or leur (to them). So: Marie leur parle, not Marie y parle.

Question 8

If the guests are all women, should it be invitées?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The feminine plural is invitées: Marie parle aux invitées maintenant.  
For mixed or unknown gender, French uses the masculine plural invités. In speech, invités and invitées sound the same.

Question 9

How do you pronounce the whole sentence?

Accepted Answer

Rough guide: [maʁi paʁl o zɛ̃vite mɛ̃tnɑ̃]  
- Marie = [maʁi]  
- parle = [paʁl]  
- aux invités has an obligatory liaison: [o zɛ̃vite] (hear a “z” link)  
- in in invités is nasal [ɛ̃]  
- maintenant is commonly [mɛ̃tnɑ̃] (the middle schwa often drops)

Question 10

Is there a liaison between parle and aux?

Accepted Answer

No. You say [paʁl o], with no extra linking sound. The obligatory liaison is between aux and invités: [o zɛ̃vite].

Question 11

Can I omit the article and say “parle à invités”?

Accepted Answer

No. In French, plural countable nouns need an article. Use:
- aux invités (to the guests)
- à des invités (to some guests)

Question 12

What’s the difference between aux invités and à des invités?

Accepted Answer

- aux invités = to the (specific/known) guests.
- à des invités = to some guests (non‑specific, not necessarily all or a known set).

Question 13

How do I make it negative?

Accepted Answer

Place ne … pas around the conjugated verb:
- Marie ne parle pas aux invités maintenant.
With a pronoun: Marie ne leur parle pas maintenant.

Question 14

How do I turn it into a question?

Accepted Answer

Three common ways:
- Intonation: Marie parle aux invités maintenant ?
- Est-ce que: Est-ce que Marie parle aux invités maintenant ?
- Inversion: Marie parle-t-elle aux invités maintenant ? (insert -t- for euphony)

Question 15

What’s the difference between parler and dire?

Accepted Answer

- parler à someone = to speak/talk to someone. No direct object of “what is said” is required.
- dire quelque chose à quelqu’un = to say/tell something to someone; needs a direct object.  
Examples:  
- Marie parle aux invités.  
- Marie dit bonjour aux invités. / Marie leur dit la vérité.

Question 16

Can I use en ce moment instead of maintenant?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but nuance differs:
- maintenant = now, at this moment.
- en ce moment = currently/these days; can mean a broader ongoing period.  
So: Marie parle aux invités en ce moment can mean “these days she’s been talking to the guests.”

Question 17

Are there other words for “guests” in French?

Accepted Answer

- les invités = guests in general (most common).  
- les convives = guests at a meal/banquet.  
- les clients = customers/guests of a hotel/restaurant.  
- les hôtes can mean hosts or guests (ambiguous today). Prefer invités to avoid confusion.

Question 18

Any spelling or accent pitfalls in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

- invités must have é; without it, invite is the verb form “(he/she) invites.”  
- aux is spelled with -aux, never aus.  
- Don’t drop the plural -s in invités (even though it’s silent).

Marie parle aux invités maintenant.

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