# FR: Je l'ai entendu le parler



## Catullus91

Why does "le" not work in this example:

Est-ce que tu as jamais vu Lex parler allemand?
Oui, je l'ai vu *le* parler


But the le in "Il veut que je *le* fasse" does work?


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## SwissPete

Who said it does not work?


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## Catullus91

Several native speakers on HiNative.


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## Catullus91

Does it actually work? Several native speakers told me it doesn't. Does the *"le" *sentence "Je l'ai entendu *le *dire" work?

If so, why doesn't "Je l'ai entendu le parler" work?


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## Maître Capello

If the pronoun _le_ refers to a language, your sentence is grammatically correct but it sounds a bit awkward. It would indeed be more natural to say _cette langue_ instead of using the pronoun _le_.

_Je l'ai vu/entendu parler allemand_ → _Je l'ai vu/entendu *le* parler_ () / _Je l'ai vu/entendu parler cette langue_ 

Il _le_ referred to a person, it would be incorrect as you would need the indirect object pronoun _lui_ instead:

_Je l'ai vu/entendu parler à Jean → Je l'ai vu/entendu le parler_  / _Je l'ai vu *lui* parler_


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## Catullus91

Really, a native speaker told me it was impossible to refer to the language.

In this example, 

Est-ce que tu as jamais vu Lex parler allemand?
Oui, je l'ai vu *le* parler

according to her, I could only say " Je l'ai vu parler" or "Je l'ai vu parler allemand."

I always thought that the the " l' " in "l'ai" refered to the person, and the "le" to the language.


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## Catullus91

Here are the threads that I am referring to, by the way:

Est-ce que tu as jamais vu Lex parler allemand?  Oui, je l'ai vu parler. does this sound natural? | HiNative
Je lui ai entendu le parler [le français] does this sound natural? | HiNative


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## Pix'n

I don't see why it would be grammatically incorrect to say _je l'ai entendu le parler_, but I've to admit it might not be the most natural way to say that and I reckon that most french people would rather say _je l'ai entendu parler Allemand_, even if you previously said that he or she talks German.
Also, I would like to point out that I don't think it is correct to say _je l'ai vu parler Allemand_. We would say e.g. _je l'ai vu parler à son ami_ but_ je l'ai entendu parler Allemand (avec son ami) _(as you correctly wrote in your title).
And I guess it's the same as in English, you say _I saw him talk to his friend_ and _I heard him speak German _but you don't say _I saw him speak German_, do you?


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## Catullus91

Thanks a lot. I was so confused when I was told that was grammatically incorrect!


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## Alkanna

As-tu jamais  entendu Alex parler allemand ?
Oui, je l'ai  entendu le parler.

As-tu jamais entendu Alex parler ?
Oui, je l'ai entendu parler.


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## Maître Capello

Catullus91 said:


> I was so confused when I was told that was grammatically incorrect!


Well, they just confused incorrect and ungrammatical with infrequent and unnatural… 



Pix'n said:


> Also, I would like to point out that I don't think it is correct to say _je l'ai vu parler allemand_. We would say e.g. _je l'ai vu parler à son ami_ but_ je l'ai entendu parler allemand (avec son ami) _(as you correctly wrote in your title).


Both perception verbs are actually possible depending on the exact context and on the intended meaning as the speaker indeed both saw and heard the other person speak German… Anyway, I'm afraid that question is off topic in this thread.


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## Nicomon

The question may be off topic... but I had the same reaction as Pix'n.  Actually « _vu _» bothers me more than « _le _».

However  if I were to reply « le », then my original sentence would be (with the article) : 
As-tu jamais/déjà entendu Lex parler *l'*allemand?
Oui, je l'ai déjà entendu *le* parler.  





> Chaque étudiant est tenu d'apprendre une langue étrangère. *Le français* est complètement délaissé. C'est l'anglais, c'est l'allemand surtout, qu'ils sont censés connaître. Je m'étonne de les entendre *le* parler si mal; un élève de seconde année de chez nous en sait davantage.


  Source : Retour de l'U.R.S.S. - André Gide. 

Also : 





> Ils ont tous éclaté de rire quand j'ai annoncé que je voulais apprendre *le* portugais...
> Mais lorsqu'il m'ont entendu *le* parler 30 jours plus tard...
> 
> Bon courage pour l'apprentissage *du* Coréen; j'ai hâte de t'entendre* le *parler.


  I wouldn't replace « le » with « cette langue » in these sentences.


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## Maître Capello

Nicomon said:


> I wouldn't replace « le » with « cette langue » in these sentences.


Me neither. But in those citations the definite article is used before the language name, which makes the direct object pronoun _le_ more natural.

How would you reply to _As-tu déjà entendu Lex parler allemand ?_, which does *not* include the article? In that case it would sound a bit awkward to me to reply, _Je l'ai entendu *le* parler_.


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## Nicomon

I agree.  Which is why I purposely added the definite article in the original sentence - in an attempt to show the difference -  before citing examples.

Without the definite article, I would reply :  _Oui, je l'ai déjà entendu parler allemand_.    Repeating _allemand_.

It wouldn't come to me spontaneously to say _cette langue_, and if you stop at _parler... _there is something missin_g. _


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## Maître Capello

Saying _cette langue_ is indeed not the best way to put it. I just suggested it because it was more natural than using the pronoun _le_, but your own suggestions are probably even more natural.  If asked, I would personally just answer _Oui_, possibly followed by a brief description of where and when it happened.


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## Nicomon

Come to think of it,  so would I.  Or may be I'd say :  _Oui, je l'ai déjà entendu_.  Full stop.

What I don't like is :  _Oui, je l'ai déjà entendu parler._  It sounds as though the question was  :  _Have you ever heard Lex talk ? _


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## Oddmania

Franchement, est-ce qu'on dirait vraiment "_Yes, I've heard him speak *it*_" en anglais ? Les locuteurs étrangers semblent toujours vouloir pousser le français dans ses derniers retranchements, par curiosité, en combinant le plus de pronoms possibles (_y, en, lui, le_), mais ce n'est jamais très naturel.

Je suis d'accord avec ce qui a été dit plus haut. L'article me semblerait plus adapté s'il était déjà présent dans la question. Sinon, "_Oui, _(_je l'ai déjà entendu _(_le faire_))".


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