Breakdown of Nous allons en parler avec nos amis.
Questions & Answers about Nous allons en parler avec nos amis.
Why does French use allons + parler here instead of just one future-tense verb?
Nous allons parler is the near future in French: aller + infinitive.
- nous allons parler = we are going to talk
- nous parlerons = we will talk
Both can refer to the future, but aller + infinitive is very common in everyday spoken French and often feels a bit more immediate or natural in conversation.
So in this sentence:
- Nous allons en parler = We’re going to talk about it
What does en mean in this sentence?
Here, en is a pronoun that replaces de + thing/idea.
The verb parler often uses de when you say what you are talking about:
So en means something like about it, about that, or of it, depending on the context.
Example:
- Nous allons parler de ce film.
- Nous allons en parler.
In the second sentence, en replaces de ce film.
Why is it en parler and not parler en?
French object pronouns usually go before the infinitive when you have a structure like aller + infinitive.
So:
A good pattern to remember is:
The pronoun belongs with the infinitive, and it comes before it.
Why is it parler avec nos amis instead of parler à nos amis?
Both avec and à can appear with parler, but they do not emphasize exactly the same thing.
In your sentence, avec nos amis suggests a conversation or discussion involving the friends.
So:
If you said à nos amis, it would sound more like speaking to them rather than discussing it together.
What is the role of nous here?
Why is it nos amis and not something else?
Nos is the possessive adjective meaning our.
It agrees with the noun that follows:
- ami = friend
- amis = friends
- nos amis = our friends
French possessive adjectives change according to the noun, not according to the owner. For our, you get:
- notre
- singular noun
- nos
- plural noun
So:
- notre ami = our friend
- nos amis = our friends
How would this sentence be different if it used the simple future: Nous en parlerons avec nos amis?
That version is also correct.
- Nous allons en parler avec nos amis = We’re going to talk about it with our friends
- Nous en parlerons avec nos amis = We will talk about it with our friends
The difference is mostly one of style and nuance:
- aller + infinitive is very common in everyday speech
- the simple future can sound a bit more formal, planned, or neutral depending on context
In many situations, both are possible.
Is parler one of those verbs that needs de for the topic?
Yes, very often.
When you say what the topic is, French commonly uses:
- parler de quelque chose = to talk about something
- parler de quelqu’un = to talk about someone
That is why en is used here: it replaces something introduced by de.
Compare:
But French also has:
- parler à quelqu’un = speak to someone
- parler avec quelqu’un = speak with someone
So parler can combine with different prepositions depending on the meaning.
Where is the negation placed if I want to say We are not going to talk about it with our friends?
You would say:
With aller + infinitive, the ne ... pas goes around the conjugated verb:
- nous n’allons pas
Not around parler.
So:
- Nous allons en parler = We are going to talk about it
- Nous n’allons pas en parler = We are not going to talk about it
How is this sentence pronounced? Are there any liaisons?
Could French speakers also say this with on instead of nous?
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