Learn Hardcore French: Au café, ils discutent du rôle des citoyens dans la démocratie moderne. - At the café, they discuss the role of citizens in modern democracy.

For emphasis: Eux, ils discutent; moi, je travaille. (They are talking; I’m working.)
After prepositions: avec eux (with them)
Alone as an answer: Qui vient ? – Eux. (Who’s coming? – They are.)

In this sentence, you need a subject before the verb, so it must be ils.

Why do we say discutent de instead of just discutent?

In French, the verb discuter normally takes the preposition de when you specify the topic:

discuter de quelque chose = to discuss something / to talk about something

Examples:

Nous discutons du film. = We are discussing the film.
Ils discutent de politique. = They are talking about politics.

You would not say:

❌ Ils discutent le rôle des citoyens.

So discutent du rôle des citoyens literally means are discussing the role of citizens.

What is the difference between de le rôle and du rôle?

De le contracts to du. This is a mandatory contraction:

de + le rôle → du rôle

So:

❌ de le rôle
✅ du rôle

Just like:

de + le livre → du livre
de + le gouvernement → du gouvernement

This du here means of the (the role, not just any role).

How do I know du here means of the and not some (as in a partitive article)?

Du can mean:

of the (when it’s de + le)
some (partitive article)

In this sentence:

du rôle des citoyens = of the role of the citizens

Grammatically:

du = de + le (of the)
It’s followed by another de-phrase (des citoyens), so it’s clearly about possession/specific reference, not an undefined quantity.

Partitive du appears with uncountable things:

Je bois du café. = I drink some coffee.

Here, rôle is a countable, specific concept (the role in democracy), so du is de le, not partitive.

Why is it des citoyens and not les citoyens or de citoyens?

In du rôle des citoyens, des is the contraction of de + les:

de + les citoyens → des citoyens

So it literally means of the citizens.

Why not:

de citoyens? → That would sound like of (some) citizens, more vague and less general.
du rôle les citoyens? → That’s ungrammatical; you need de after rôle: le rôle de quelque chose / de quelqu’un.

So:

le rôle des citoyens = the role of (the) citizens (in general)

Could des citoyens ever mean some citizens instead of the citizens?

Yes, des can mean:

of the → de + les (as in this sentence)
some → plural indefinite article

Examples:

Je parle des citoyens de ce pays.
→ Generally, of the citizens of this country (de + les)
Des citoyens sont venus se plaindre.
→ Some citizens came to complain (indefinite)

How to tell the difference?

If des comes from de + les (after a preposition, noun, or verb that takes de), it’s usually of the.
If it starts the noun phrase as the subject/object with no de before, it often means some.

Why is it dans la démocratie moderne and not just dans la démocratie moderne without la (like English: in modern democracy)?

French normally requires an article where English can omit it for abstract/general nouns.

English:

in modern democracy

French:

dans la démocratie moderne (literally: in the modern democracy)

Other examples:

La liberté est importante. = Freedom is important.
La démocratie est fragile. = Democracy is fragile.

French tends to say la démocratie where English just says democracy.

Could I use en démocratie moderne instead of dans la démocratie moderne?

You could say en démocratie, but the nuance changes slightly.

dans la démocratie moderne
Focuses on the context or framework of modern democracy (within this system/institution).
en démocratie
Sounds more like in a democracy / under a democratic system in general, often used without moderne:
- Vivre en démocratie = to live in a democracy.

With the adjective moderne and this precise, almost academic tone, dans la démocratie moderne sounds more natural in written, formal French. En démocratie moderne is not wrong, but less idiomatic in this exact sentence.

Why is moderne placed after démocratie and not before?

In French, most adjectives go after the noun:

une démocratie moderne = a modern democracy
une idée intéressante = an interesting idea
un film long = a long film

Only certain common adjectives go before the noun (BAGS: beauty, age, goodness, size), such as:

un petit café
un vieux livre
une bonne idée

Moderne is not in that group, so it normally comes after: la démocratie moderne.

Why is the verb discutent in the simple present, even though the English translation uses “are discussing”?

French doesn’t have a distinct present continuous tense like English (are discussing). The simple present covers both:

Ils discutent.
= They discuss. / They are discussing.

If you really want to insist on “right now,” you can say:

Ils sont en train de discuter du rôle des citoyens... = They are in the middle of discussing...

But the normal, neutral way is just:

Ils discutent du rôle des citoyens...

How do you pronounce des citoyens and is there a liaison?

Yes, there is a liaison between des and citoyens.

Pronunciation:

des → /de/
citoyens → roughly /si-twa-yɛ̃/

With liaison:

des citoyens → /de‿si-twa-yɛ̃/
(You link the s in des to the c in citoyens, so it sounds like dez-citoyens.)

Other examples of the same pattern:

des amis → /de‿za-mi/ (dez-amis)
des enfants → /de‿zɑ̃-fɑ̃/ (dez-enfants)