Breakdown of Elle attend encore une réponse à sa demande.
Questions & Answers about Elle attend encore une réponse à sa demande.
Why does attendre not use a word for for here?
In French, attendre normally takes a direct object, unlike English to wait for.
So French says:
Not:
- attendre pour une réponse ❌
This is a very common difference for English speakers. With attendre, you usually do not add a preposition before the thing being waited for.
What does encore mean in this sentence?
Why is it une réponse and not la réponse?
Une réponse means a reply / an answer, while la réponse would mean the reply / the answer.
Using une suggests that she is waiting for some reply, not necessarily referring to one already clearly identified as specific.
So:
- une réponse = a reply, any reply
- la réponse = the reply, a specific one
French often uses the indefinite article when English might also say a.
Why is it à sa demande?
What does demande mean here?
Demande usually means request, but in some contexts it can also mean application.
So this sentence could mean:
- She is still waiting for a reply to her request
- She is still waiting for a reply to her application
The exact choice depends on context. If this is about paperwork, a job, immigration, or official documents, application may be the better translation. In a more general situation, request is more likely.
Why does it say sa demande? Could sa mean his too?
Yes. In French, sa can mean his, her, or sometimes its, depending on context.
French possessive adjectives agree with the thing possessed, not with the owner.
Since demande is a feminine singular noun, French uses:
- sa demande
not because the owner is female, but because demande is feminine singular.
In this sentence, because the subject is Elle, we understand sa as her.
Why is the verb form attend?
Does Elle attend mean she waits or she is waiting?
It can mean either, depending on context.
French uses the present tense for both:
- she waits
- she is waiting
So:
In English, the continuous form sounds more natural here, but French does not need a separate is waiting form.
Why is encore placed after the verb?
In simple sentences, short adverbs like encore, souvent, déjà, and toujours are often placed after the conjugated verb.
So:
- Elle attend encore...
is the normal order.
This is a common French word order pattern:
- Il travaille encore.
- Nous avons déjà fini.
- Elle vient souvent.
English speakers often want to place still earlier, but French handles it differently.
How is Elle attend encore une réponse à sa demande pronounced?
A simple approximate pronunciation is:
el a-ton ahn-kor uhn ray-pons ah sa duh-mahnd
A few helpful notes:
- Elle sounds like el
- attend ends with a nasal sound; the final d is not normally pronounced
- encore sounds like ahn-kor
- une has the French u sound, which does not exist exactly in English
- réponse has a nasal vowel in the second syllable
- demande ends with another nasal sound
Also, in natural speech, une réponse à sa demande flows smoothly, with à sa pronounced very lightly.
Could French also say Elle est encore en attente d’une réponse?
Is there anything tricky about translating demande into English?
Yes. English speakers often translate demande too mechanically as demand, but that is usually wrong.
In most everyday contexts:
- demande = request
- sometimes application
- sometimes claim or inquiry, depending on context
English demand is much stronger and usually corresponds more closely to French exigence or sometimes a forceful demande, depending on context.
So in this sentence, request is the safest basic choice.
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