Le professeur prononce chaque mot lentement.

The teacher pronounces each word slowly.

Breakdown of Le professeur prononce chaque mot lentement.

• lentement: slowly
• le mot: the word
• chaque: each
• le professeur: the teacher
• prononcer: to pronounce

Questions & Answers about Le professeur prononce chaque mot lentement.

Why is it le professeur and not un professeur or just professeur?

In French, you normally need an article (a little word like le, la, un, une) in front of singular countable nouns.

• Le professeur = the teacher / the professor (a specific one, or “the teacher” in general)
• Un professeur = a teacher / a professor (one, not specified)

You can’t usually drop the article and just say professeur prononce... the way English can say “Teacher pronounces...”.

Here, le professeur likely refers to:

• either a specific teacher everyone in the context already knows,
• or “the teacher” in a general way (e.g., in a textbook example describing what a teacher typically does).

Is professeur masculine? How do I refer to a female teacher?

Yes, professeur is grammatically masculine in standard French:

• le professeur = the teacher (male or female, grammatically masculine)

For a woman, everyday French usually still uses le professeur and masculine agreement:

• Le professeur est très patient.
  (Even if the teacher is a woman.)

Some speakers, especially in more inclusive or informal contexts, use:

• la professeure (feminine form, now found in many official/inclusive contexts)
• le professeur but then use feminine agreement: Le professeur est très patiente.
• la prof (short, informal, widely used for a female teacher)

In your sentence, Le professeur prononce... can refer to a man or a woman; the grammar is masculine by default.

What form of the verb is prononce, and what does it tell us?

Prononce is:

• verb: prononcer (to pronounce)
• tense: present tense
• person: 3rd person singular (il/elle/on)

So it matches:

• il prononce – he pronounces / he is pronouncing
• elle prononce – she pronounces / she is pronouncing
• le professeur prononce – the teacher pronounces / is pronouncing

Full present tense of prononcer (with je/tu/il...) is:

• je prononce
• tu prononces
• il / elle / on prononce
• nous prononçons (note the ç)
• vous prononcez
• ils / elles prononcent

Why is there no ç (cedilla) in prononce, but there is one in nous prononçons?

The letter c in French is pronounced:

• like k before a, o, u (ca, co, cu)
• like s before e, i, y (ce, ci, cy)

To keep the s sound before a, o, u, French uses ç (cedilla): ça, ço, çu.

In prononce:

• c is before e, so it is naturally pronounced s: prononce → /pʁɔnɔ̃s/

In nous prononçons:

• c would be before o, which would normally make a k sound (prononcons → /pʁɔnɔ̃kɔ̃/).
• To keep the s sound, French writes ç: prononçons → /pʁɔnɔ̃sɔ̃/.

Does le professeur prononce mean “the teacher pronounces” or “the teacher is pronouncing”?

It can mean both. French present tense covers both English:

• simple present: “The teacher pronounces each word slowly.”
• present continuous: “The teacher is pronouncing each word slowly.”

If you specifically want to emphasize “is in the middle of doing it right now,” you can say:

• Le professeur est en train de prononcer chaque mot lentement.
  = “The teacher is in the process of pronouncing each word slowly.”

What does chaque mean exactly, and why is it followed by mot in the singular?

Chaque means each or every and has two key rules:

1. It is always followed by a singular noun:

   • chaque mot = each word / every word
   • chaque élève = each student / every student
     (Never chaques mots, that’s incorrect.)

2. You do not add another article with it:

   • ✅ chaque mot (correct)
   • ❌ le chaque mot, un chaque mot (incorrect)

So chaque mot means “each word” (considered one by one), but in French the noun stays singular.

What is the difference between chaque mot and tous les mots?

Both refer to “all the words,” but with a different perspective:

• chaque mot

  • literally “each word”
  • focuses on individual items, one by one
  • suggests the teacher is treating every word separately

• tous les mots

  • “all the words”
  • views them more as a group / totality
  • less emphasis on “one by one”

So:

• Le professeur prononce chaque mot lentement.
  → Suggests careful, word-by-word pronunciation.
• Le professeur prononce tous les mots lentement.
  → States that all the words are pronounced slowly, but with less insistence on the “one by one” idea.

Why is mot singular if we’re talking about more than one word?

Because chaque forces the noun to be singular, even though the meaning is “each (of many)”.

• grammar: chaque + singular noun
• meaning: refers to multiple items, but viewed one by one

So:

• chaque mot = each word (grammatically singular, conceptually many)
• chaque jour = each day / every day
• chaque étudiant = each student

If you actually want the noun in plural, you need a different determiner:

• tous les mots (all the words)
• plusieurs mots (several words)
• des mots (some words / words)

Why is it lentement and not lent?

Lentement is an adverb, while lent is an adjective.

• lent describes a noun (a slow thing/person):

  • un train lent = a slow train
  • un professeur lent = a slow teacher

• lentement describes a verb (the manner of an action):

  • prononcer lentement = to pronounce slowly
  • parler lentement = to speak slowly

In your sentence, we are describing how the teacher pronounces, so we need an adverb:

• Le professeur prononce chaque mot lentement.
  = The teacher pronounces each word slowly.

How is the adverb lentement formed from lent?

French often forms adverbs by adding -ment to the feminine form of an adjective.

For lent (masculine):

• feminine: lente
• add -ment → lentement

Other examples:

• heureux → heureuse → heureusement (happily)
• sérieux → sérieuse → sérieusement
• rapide (already same masc./fem.) → rapidement

Be aware of irregular ones:

• bon → bien (not bonnement)
• mauvais → mal (not mauvaisement)

Where can lentement go in the sentence? Is the position flexible?

In Le professeur prononce chaque mot lentement, lentement is at the end, which is very natural.

Other possibilities:

• Le professeur prononce lentement chaque mot.
  (Also correct; still clear and natural.)
• Le professeur lentement prononce chaque mot.
  (Possible but unusual; sounds marked, a bit literary/poetic.)

You can also put it at the beginning for stylistic emphasis:

• Lentement, le professeur prononce chaque mot.

Most neutral choices:

• after the verb phrase: prononce chaque mot lentement
• or right after the verb: prononce lentement chaque mot

Are there any liaisons or silent letters I should know in this sentence?

Yes:

1. Le professeur

   • professeur ends with a written -r, but it is pronounced: /pʁɔ.fɛ.sœʁ/ (the final r is audible in standard French).
   • No liaison between le and professeur (because professeur starts with a consonant).

2. prononce

   • final -e is silent; word sounds like prononc’: /pʁɔ.nɔ̃s/

3. chaque

   • pronounced /ʃak/ (final -e silent)

4. mot

   • final -t is silent: /mo/

There is no liaison between:

• professeur and prononce (both start/end with consonants)
• mot and lentement (mot ends with silent consonant, next word starts with consonant)

Could we replace lentement with another adverb like doucement? Would the meaning change?

Yes, you can replace lentement with other adverbs, but the nuance changes:

• lentement = slowly, focuses on speed.
• doucement = gently / softly / quietly, focuses on softness, gentleness, low volume.

So:

• Le professeur prononce chaque mot lentement.
  → The teacher speaks at a slow pace.

• Le professeur prononce chaque mot doucement.
  → The teacher pronounces gently/softly, maybe in a calm or quiet voice.

Context decides which is more appropriate.

If I want to replace chaque mot with a pronoun, what would I say?

Mot is masculine and singular, but chaque mot refers to all the words individually, so if you later refer back to all the words, you normally use the direct object pronoun les (them).

For example:

• Le professeur prononce chaque mot lentement. Il les prononce lentement pour que tout le monde comprenne.
  → “The teacher pronounces each word slowly. He pronounces them slowly so that everyone understands.”

Structure:

• les (direct object pronoun, plural) goes before the verb:
  • Le professeur les prononce lentement.

We use les because we’re talking about multiple words (them), even if they previously appeared as singular after chaque.