Could someone tell me where the verb is in the question "Est-ce que Reid fait ses devoirs ce soir?" Am I correct when I say I need to 'sandwich' it [the verb] with "ne" and "pas" to answer it with a no?
Could anyone tell me what it means in english? [The whole phrase]
dynamo71
Favorite Answer
the verb is fait
(infinitive is faire)
Reid ne fait pas
Abby J
The verb in your sentence is 'fait,' which is the il/elle/on form of the irregular verb faire, which means to do or to make, though there is no literal translation.
If you wanted to make it negative, you would have "ne fait pas" instead of the current "fait".
Hope that helps!
Ulric
= Translation =
First off, "Est-ce que Reid fait ses devoirs ce soir?" can be translated as "Is Reid doing his homework tonight?".
= Question pattern =
The "Est-ce que" question pattern is:
[Est-ce que] [Subject] [Verb] [Complement] [?]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Est-ce que] [Reid] [fait] [ses devoirs ce soir] [?]
(Is) (Reid) (doing) (his homework tonight)(?)
According to this pattern, you can notice that the verb here is "fait".
("Faire" in the third person singular - ('to do' or 'to make', depending on the meaning))
= Answer pattern =
- Negative answer -
As for the negative answer, yes quite precisely! You have to 'sandwich' the verb with "ne" and "pas", following this pattern:
[No,] [Subject] ["ne"] [Verb] ["pas"] [Complement.]
Knowing that "fait" is the verb, you should now be able to compose the answer yourself.
If you did well, it should look like:
"(Non,) Reid ne fait pas ses devoirs (ce soir)."
("(No,) Reid isn't doing his homework (tonight).")
- Positive answer (just if you may wonder) -
Its pattern is quite similar.
[Yes,] [Subject] [Verb] [Complement]
"(Oui,) Reid fait ses devoirs (ce soir)."
Fairly easy isn't it? ^^
= Practice =
Now, if you want to practice a bit, here are some more "Est-ce que" questions (provided with their negative answers!) :p
1. Est-ce que John est malade? (Is John sick?)
2. Est-ce que tu as faim maintenant? (Are you hungry now?)
3. Est-ce John viendra dans le jardin? (Will John come in the garden?)
Negative answers:
1. Non, John n'est pas malade.
2. Non, je n'ai pas faim maintenant. (Note that "tu" becomes "je" since I personally answer the question)
3. Non, John ne viendra pas dans le jardin. (Note that the pattern isn't depending on the tense I use (here the future tense))
Hope this helps!
Feel free to ask for precision if you need!
monkkay
fait is the verb
Anonymous
im pretty sure in english it means:
"Do you want to do our homework today?"
or something.. just guessing.
try googleing a translator.