Structure de la phrase

The structure of the phrase in French is similar to the one we use in English:

Subject + Verb

Subject + Verb

Le garçon dort	The boy sleeps
La femme chante	La mujer canta
Le chien court	El perro corre

We have seen on our previous lessons that the noun needs an article and/or an adjective and that it must agree with the gender and number

Le petit garçon dort	The little boy sleeps
La petite fille chante	The little girl sings
Les petits garçons dorment	The little boys sleep
Les petites filles chantent	The little girls sing

If the phrase has a directo r indirect compliment they have to go after the verb:

Je lis un livre	I read a book
Il aide son père	He helps his father
Mon ami achète une voiture	My friend buys a car
La mère parle á son fils	The mother talks with her child

If there are both a direct and indirect compliment in the phrase, there is no specific order for them.  However, if you want to emphasize one of the objects you can write it in first place:

Je donne à mon père un tableau	I give to my father a picture (remarking I gave it to my father)
Je donne un tableau à mon père	I give a picture to my father (I want to highlight that I gave him a paint)

However, if in the compliments the nouns are changed for their corresponding pronouns, there must be follow a specific order as we will see:

Je donne à mon père un tableau	I give to my father a picture
Je lui donne un tableau	I give him a picture
Je le donne à mon père	I give it to my father
Je le lui donne	I give it to him

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