Learn Hardcore French: Le médecin trouve ces symptômes un peu inquiétants et lui propose une consultation. - The doctor finds these symptoms a bit worrying and suggests an appointment.

Le médecin trouve ces symptômes un peu inquiétants et lui propose une consultation.

The doctor finds these symptoms a bit worrying and suggests an appointment.

Breakdown of Le médecin trouve ces symptômes un peu inquiétants et lui propose une consultation.

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Questions & Answers about Le médecin trouve ces symptômes un peu inquiétants et lui propose une consultation.

In this sentence, what does trouve mean? Is it literally “finds” like finding a lost object?

Here trouve means “considers / thinks”, not “finds” in the physical sense.

French trouver can mean:

physical: Je trouve mes clés. – I find my keys.
opinion: Je trouve ce film intéressant. – I find / think this film is interesting.

In Le médecin trouve ces symptômes un peu inquiétants, it’s the opinion use: The doctor considers these symptoms a bit worrying.

Why do we say trouve ces symptômes un peu inquiétants instead of trouve que ces symptômes sont un peu inquiétants?

Both are grammatically correct, but they are slightly different structures:

trouver + COD (direct object) + adjective
- Le médecin trouve ces symptômes un peu inquiétants.
  Literally: The doctor finds these symptoms a bit worrying.
  This is compact and quite natural, especially in spoken French.
trouver que + proposition
- Le médecin trouve que ces symptômes sont un peu inquiétants.
  Literally: The doctor thinks that these symptoms are a bit worrying.

The meaning is the same here. The version without que avoids repeating ces symptômes and sont, and sounds a bit lighter and more fluent.

Why is inquiétants plural and masculine? How do I know how to make it agree?

Inquiétants agrees with symptômes:

symptôme is masculine singular → un symptôme inquiétant
symptômes is masculine plural → des symptômes inquiétants

Agreement rules:

Adjectives must agree in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) with the noun they describe.
Here, the noun is ces symptômes → masculine plural → inquiétants (add -s).

So:

un symptôme inquiétant (m.sg.)
des symptômes inquiétants (m.pl.)
une maladie inquiétante (f.sg.)
des maladies inquiétantes (f.pl.)

What exactly is the role of un peu here? Could we just say inquiétants without it?

Un peu means “a little / somewhat / a bit” and softens the adjective:

inquiétants = worrying
un peu inquiétants = a bit worrying / somewhat worrying

You can say:

Le médecin trouve ces symptômes inquiétants.
This is stronger: the doctor finds them frankly worrying.

Other common modifiers:

assez inquiétants = quite / fairly worrying
très inquiétants = very worrying
peu inquiétants = not very worrying / hardly worrying

So un peu is a nuance marker, indicating mild concern.

Why is it ces symptômes and not les symptômes or des symptômes?

All three exist but don’t mean the same thing:

ces symptômes = these symptoms (specific, the ones we’re talking about now)
les symptômes = the symptoms (could be more general or already well-known in the context)
des symptômes = (some) symptoms (indefinite, introducing them for the first time)

In this sentence, we’re clearly talking about particular symptoms the patient has, so ces (“these”) is natural: ces symptômes = these (current) symptoms.

Why is it Le médecin and not Un médecin or just Médecin?

French almost always uses an article before professions:

You don’t say: Médecin trouve…
You say: Le médecin or Un médecin.

Choice of article:

Le médecin = the doctor (a specific doctor already identified in the context, or “the doctor” in this situation)
Un médecin = a doctor (introducing some doctor, not yet identified)
In a story or conversation, once the doctor has been introduced, you’d naturally switch to Le médecin when talking about them again.

Why do we use lui and not le or la in lui propose une consultation?

Because proposer une consultation à quelqu’un takes an indirect object with à:

pattern: proposer quelque chose à quelqu’un
indirect object pronoun for à lui / à elle is lui (for both “him” and “her”)

So:

Le médecin lui propose une consultation.
= The doctor offers him/her a consultation.

If you used le / la, that would be a direct object pronoun, but here, the thing being proposed (direct object) is une consultation, and the person is an indirect object (“to him/her”).

Where does lui go in the sentence, and what would happen with negation or compound tenses?

In simple tenses like the present, object pronouns go before the verb:

Le médecin lui propose une consultation.

With negation:

Le médecin ne lui propose pas de consultation.
(ne + pronoun + verb + pas)

With a compound tense (e.g. passé composé):

Le médecin lui a proposé une consultation.
(pronoun still goes before the auxiliary a)

So the pattern is:

subject + (ne)
- pronoun + verb (+ pas) + rest of sentence

What does proposer mean here? Is it more like “offer” or “suggest,” and how is it normally constructed?

Here proposer is between “offer” and “suggest”, often translated as “to offer (someone) something / to suggest (something)”.

Common structures:

proposer quelque chose à quelqu’un
Le médecin lui propose une consultation.
= The doctor offers him/her a consultation.
proposer à quelqu’un de faire quelque chose
Le médecin lui propose de revenir demain.
= The doctor suggests (to him/her) coming back tomorrow.

It’s more neutral than offrir, which often implies a gift:

offrir un cadeau = to give a gift.

What exactly does une consultation mean in a medical context, and why use une?

In a medical context, une consultation is an appointment / a medical visit with a doctor, usually to examine and discuss health issues.

une consultation = one specific consultation (not “the general concept” of consultations)
the indefinite article une introduces it as a particular, new event being proposed:
- Il lui propose une consultation. = He offers her a (one) consultation.

If you said la consultation, you’d be referring to a very specific one already known or scheduled.

Could the word order be different, for example Le médecin trouve un peu inquiétants ces symptômes? Is that possible?

Yes, Le médecin trouve un peu inquiétants ces symptômes is grammatically possible, but:

it sounds more literary or emphatic,
the more neutral, everyday order is:
Le médecin trouve ces symptômes un peu inquiétants.

In modern spoken and standard written French, you usually keep:

subject + verb + direct object + modifiers
→ Le médecin
- trouve
  - ces symptômes
    - un peu inquiétants.