Le chiot me regarde comme s’il comprenait déjà son nom.

The puppy looks at me as if it already understood its name.

Breakdown of Le chiot me regarde comme s’il comprenait déjà son nom.

• déjà: already
• comprendre: to understand
• me: me (object pronoun)
• il: it

Questions & Answers about Le chiot me regarde comme s’il comprenait déjà son nom.

Why does the sentence start with Le chiot? What exactly does chiot mean?

Chiot means puppy.

The article le means the, so Le chiot is the puppy.

A learner might also notice that French often uses an article where English does too, but sometimes more consistently. Here it is straightforward: the puppy.

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Why is it me regarde instead of something like regarde moi?

In French, object pronouns such as me, te, le, la, nous, vous, les usually go before the conjugated verb.

So:

• Le chiot me regarde = The puppy is looking at me
• literally: The puppy me looks at

That feels strange to an English speaker, but it is normal French word order.

Regarde-moi does exist, but it means look at me! and is an imperative, so it would not fit here.

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What kind of me is this? Is it direct or indirect?