Liaisons after past participles ending in s

Jason S.A1Kwiziq community member

Liaisons after past participles ending in s

Hi all,

just wondering if the liaison in the following sentence between "sortis" and "ensemble" is required, forbidden, or optional?

"Nous sommes sortis ensemble."

or similarly, 

"J'ai pris un taxi."

Asked 5 years ago
CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi Jason,

Interesting point.... 

The optional liaison category is actually the hardest one to justify as it depends on social background, age, mood and tradition. In fact ‘over-liaising’ can sound precious.

After much thought , you could liaise between 'pris' and 'un' but it would sound so pedantic most people wouldn't... It's probably more optional than forbidden on second thoughts ...and it would be the same for 'mis' and 'permis'

CécileNative French expert teacher in Kwiziq

Hi Jason,

In - 'Nous sommes sortis ensemble' , the liaison is indeed optional between sortis and ensemble.

In - J'ai pris un taxi , it is forbidden

Hope this helps!

Jason S.A1Kwiziq community member

thanks cécile.  very good to know this.  and i guess the reason for the difference is:

in "sortis", the "s" is needed for agreement (plural subject)

but in "pris", the "s" is not at all related to plural

so the forbidden liaison would then cover other participles like "mis" (from mettre), "permis", etc.?

thanks!

Jason S.A1Kwiziq community member

ok thanks!

Liaisons after past participles ending in s

Hi all,

just wondering if the liaison in the following sentence between "sortis" and "ensemble" is required, forbidden, or optional?

"Nous sommes sortis ensemble."

or similarly, 

"J'ai pris un taxi."

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