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Elige nunc !responditLanguage Question
”m’a-t-elle dit”/que le soir

I'm in the process of reading/learning the french novel "Numéro Zéro" and I have come across 'm'a-t-elle'. My question is, what does the 't' in this contraction mean? I know that 'm'a' is 'me' and 'a' is 'has' for past tense, but what is the 't' for!?

Another question: why is 'que' used in 'que le soir', in stead of 'until' (jusqu'à). The sentence is: "je ne reviens chez moi que le soir." Is there another use for 'que' I'm missing? Or does it translate directly to: I don't return (until) THAT evening? Confused!

 

 

 

 

PS: Discover these free French lessons: Instruction: Grammatical and real gender — French territories — Definite and Indefinite Articles — Function of adverbs

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Mespo profile picture MespoDecember 2017
ne ...que... = seulement
"je ne reviens chez moi que le soir." = je reviens chez moi seulement le soir.
Jaazz profile picture JaazzDecember 2017
TimourP is right! the ''t'' is pronounciation liaison beause ''m'A'' ends with a vowel ''A'' and ''Elle'' begins with a vowel ''E''. So in order to seperate the vowels (A and E) we put in a ''T''

-It's the same in english. ''A cat'' vs ''An apple'' (The ''N'' seperates the vowels)