Learn Hardcore French: Marie pense que chaque vote compte, et elle dit souvent : « Je veux y réfléchir avant d’y participer. » - Marie thinks that every vote counts, and she often says, “I want to think about it before taking part in it.”

participer à quelque chose → participer à ce vote
When you replace à + quelque chose with y, you get:
participer à ce vote → y participer
avant de + infinitive
Before an infinitive, French uses de, not à:
- avant de manger
- avant de sortir

When you combine them:

avant de + y participer
Spelling rule: de + y → d’y (just like de + il → d’il, etc.)

So you get: avant d’y participer.
The de belongs to avant de, and the y belongs to y participer.

Why is y used twice: Je veux y réfléchir and d’y participer? Are they referring to the same thing?

Yes, both y refer to the same underlying idea/situation: the vote (or the decision/process connected to voting).

y réfléchir = to think about it
y participer = to take part in it

Both y replace à + [that thing]:

réfléchir à quelque chose → y réfléchir
participer à quelque chose → y participer

Using y twice avoids repetition like:

Je veux réfléchir à ce vote avant de participer à ce vote.

That would sound heavy and unnatural in French.

Why is it chaque vote compte and not chaque vote comptent?

Chaque always takes a singular noun and a singular verb, even if the meaning is “each (of many)”:

chaque vote compte (each vote counts)
chaque personne est importante (each person is important)

So:

Subject: chaque vote → singular
Verb: compte → 3rd person singular of compter

Using comptent (plural) here would be grammatically wrong.

Why is it pense que and not pense à in Marie pense que chaque vote compte?

French uses:

penser que + INDICATIVE to express an opinion or belief:
- Je pense que tu as raison.
- Marie pense que chaque vote compte.
penser à + noun / infinitive to express “to think of/about” something or remember it:
- Je pense à toi. (I’m thinking of you.)
- Pense à fermer la porte. (Remember to close the door.)

In the sentence, Marie is stating an opinion (“that each vote counts”), so penser que is the correct structure.

Should the verb after que be in the subjunctive? Why is it compte and not subjunctive?

With penser que, French normally uses the indicative, not the subjunctive, when it expresses a positive belief:

Je pense que c’est vrai.
Marie pense que chaque vote compte.

You would see the subjunctive mainly in:

Je ne pense pas que… (I don’t think that…)
Penses-tu que… ? (Do you think that… ? → doubtful / questioning)

Here, Marie pense que chaque vote compte is a straightforward affirmation, so compte is indicative and correct.

Why is it elle dit souvent and not elle souvent dit?

In French, adverbs like souvent usually go after the conjugated verb in simple tenses:

Elle parle souvent de politique.
Il arrive souvent en retard.
Elle dit souvent : …

Putting souvent before the verb (elle souvent dit) sounds unnatural and is not standard French.

You could also say:

Souvent, elle dit : …
but then souvent is at the start of the sentence, separated by a comma.

Where should the pronoun y go when there is a modal verb like vouloir? Why Je veux y réfléchir and not Je veux réfléchir y?

With a conjugated verb followed by an infinitive (like vouloir + infinitive), object pronouns such as y are normally placed before the infinitive, not after it, and not between the two verbs:

Je veux y réfléchir.
Je vais y penser.
Je peux y participer.

Wrong/unnatural:

Je veux réfléchir y.
Je y veux réfléchir.

So the correct pattern is:

[subject] + [conjugated verb] + [pronoun] + [infinitive]
Je veux y réfléchir.

Could you say Je veux réfléchir à ça avant d’y participer instead of Je veux y réfléchir? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say:

Je veux réfléchir à ça avant d’y participer.

This is grammatically correct. The differences:

y réfléchir is more compact and a bit more neutral/standard.
réfléchir à ça is slightly more informal and more explicit (“to think about that”).

Both would be understood the same way in most contexts. Many speakers would still prefer y réfléchir in careful or written French.

Why is there a comma before et elle dit souvent: Marie pense que chaque vote compte, et elle dit souvent…? Can you drop it?

The comma before et here is optional and stylistic.

Marie pense que chaque vote compte et elle dit souvent…
Marie pense que chaque vote compte, et elle dit souvent…

Both are acceptable. The comma can be used:

to mark a slight pause
to clearly separate two independent clauses with different verbs and subjects:
- clause 1: Marie pense que chaque vote compte
- clause 2: elle dit souvent : …

French is more flexible with commas before et than English; it’s not like the strict rule against putting a comma before and in many English styles.

Why is there a space before the colon and French quotation marks « »?

In standard French typography:

A space is usually placed before certain punctuation marks: ; : ? !
So: … elle dit souvent : « Je veux… »
French uses guillemets « … » as quotation marks, often with a space inside:
- Il a dit : « Merci beaucoup. »

This is a typographical convention in French. In less formal contexts (especially online), you might also see:

"Je veux y réfléchir…" (English-style quotes, sometimes without the spaces) but the version with « … » and spaces is considered more typographically correct in French.

Why is it Je veux y réfléchir and not Je voudrais y réfléchir? Is there a politeness difference?

Both are grammatically correct but differ in tone:

Je veux y réfléchir.
- Literally: I want to think about it.
- More direct, shows a clear intention or determination.
Je voudrais y réfléchir.
- Literally: I would like to think about it.
- More polite/softened; often used for requests or when you don’t want to sound too blunt.

In the given sentence, Marie is expressing a strong personal stance, so Je veux y réfléchir emphasizes her firm decision to think carefully first.

What exactly does participer mean in d’y participer? Is it like English “participate” or “take part”?

Participer in French is very close to English to participate, often meaning to take part / to be involved.

participer à un vote → to take part in a vote
participer à un projet → to participate in a project
participer à la discussion → to take part in the discussion

So d’y participer here is essentially:

to participate in it / to take part in it,
where y stands for à ce vote / à cette décision / à ce processus depending on context.