a dit Maman d'un ton admiratif en le voyant

Brian E.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

a dit Maman d'un ton admiratif en le voyant

“a dit Maman d'un ton admiratif en le voyant”

This seems such a strangely constructed sentence! Can anyone break it down?

(i) “admiratif” is an adjective (I think) but the possessive “ton” treats it like a noun. 

(ii) “voyant” seems to be used as a present participle here (“the seeing”), but I’ve only seen these preceded by “en” before. 

Asked 3 years ago
Kathryn K.C1Kwiziq community memberCorrect answer

Here, 'ton' means 'tone'. So the sentence means, "said mother in an admiring tone when seeing it."

Mark P.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

And the en voyant is there but separated by the le

Brian E.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Perfect! It’s all been parsed successfully ;) and is making sense now :)

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

An object together with a present particple goes in between the "en" and the participle.

He shaves while looking in the mirror. -- Il se rase en regardant dans le miroir.
...said Mom while she saw him. -- ...a dit maman en le voyant.

The first sentence probably looks familiar to you, since et has "en regardant" without an object interspersed between them. The sentence you inquire about has the object "le", which pertains to "en voyant", and which goes in between the "en" and the "voyant".

a dit Maman d'un ton admiratif en le voyant

“a dit Maman d'un ton admiratif en le voyant”

This seems such a strangely constructed sentence! Can anyone break it down?

(i) “admiratif” is an adjective (I think) but the possessive “ton” treats it like a noun. 

(ii) “voyant” seems to be used as a present participle here (“the seeing”), but I’ve only seen these preceded by “en” before. 

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