Prepositions

JoakimC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Prepositions

"Marie est retournée le voir le lendemain" - how come there's no preposition ("pour", say) following retournée here, which the lesson says should always follow retourner when conjugated with être?

This question relates to:French lesson "Retourner can be used with avoir or être in Le Passé Composé... and changes meaning"

Asked 5 years ago

Like3Answer3

AaronC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

"Pour" is optional in this case, as far as I understand it. For the sake of translation, "le voir" is already equivalent to "to see it", but you could add "pour". "Il vient nous sauver" = "il vient pour nous sauver". There may be a slight difference in nuance, but it's essentially the same.

Like15 years ago

AlmutC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

I guess the preposition (one of location! so "pour" wouldn't count anyway) is a good indicator that it is the intransitive version of the verb but the intransitive version of the verb does not necessarily demand a preposition. However the lack of a direct object shows that "retourner" is used intransitively here and therefore has to be conjugated with "être".

Like15 years ago

PeterC1Kwiziq community member

Like03 years ago

Joakim asked:View original

Prepositions

"Marie est retournée le voir le lendemain" - how come there's no preposition ("pour", say) following retournée here, which the lesson says should always follow retourner when conjugated with être?

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