La dentiste dit que j'ai une carie.

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Breakdown of La dentiste dit que j'ai une carie.

• avoir: to have
• que: that
• dire: to say

Questions & Answers about La dentiste dit que j'ai une carie.

Why is it la dentiste and not le dentiste?

Dentiste can refer to either a male or a female dentist. The article shows the gender here: la dentiste means the dentist is female. If it were a man, you would usually say le dentiste.

Does dentiste change form for masculine and feminine?

Usually, no. Dentiste is one of those nouns that often has the same form for both genders. So you can have le dentiste for a man and la dentiste for a woman. The article, and sometimes adjectives, tell you the gender.

Why is it dit and not dis?

Because the subject is la dentiste, which is third-person singular: she says. The verb is dire and its present-tense forms include:

• je dis = I say
• tu dis = you say
• il/elle dit = he/she says

So la dentiste dit means the dentist says.

What does que do in this sentence?