Sorry, a little more about liaison svp.

Question

You explained that it is ok to have a liaison between "vais" and "à"
but how about "tu vas à" and "ils vont à"??? Would there still be a liaison???
And there isn't a liaison when I say
"tu manges une poire", or " nous mangeons une poire" is there!? Somehow that wouldn't sound right (to me, anyway!)
Sorry to bother you again!

Answer 1

Also, I know there is a liaison between the "dois" and "y" when I say "je dois-y aller"
but is there a liaison if I were to say
"je dois aller"??

Answer 2

Bon soir! It's no bother!
Yes, for "vais à" or "tu vas à" or "ils vont à."
A good rule is "if it doesn't sound right to you, don't use liason!" For example, between "tu manges" "une poire" OR "nous mangeons" "une poire" I don't use liason either.

Here's a lesson on liason which you can just copy and save for later when you have a question. Don't be overwhelmed if it seems very confusing at first. Just refer to the rules when a question comes up.

Liason is basically when a normally silent consonant at the end of a word is pronounced at the beginning of a word that follows and begins with a vowel or mute (silent) h.

These are the consonants that change sound in liason:
d = t / f = v / s = z / x = z

I. REQUIRED LIASON:

A. Nominal Group = an article, number or adjective + a noun or adjective
un homme
les amis
deux enfants
mes élèves
petit ami
les anciens élèves

B. Verbal Group = pronoun + pronoun, pronoun + verb
vous avez
nous en avons
ont-ils

C. Single Syllable adverbs, conjunctions and prepositions
tout entier
chez elle
très utile
bien étrange
quand on décidera

D. quand + est-ce que
quand est-ce que

E. many fixed expressions. Here are a few examples:
c'est-à-dire
avant hier
plus ou moins
Comment allez-vous?

II. FORBIDDEN LIASON:

Sometimes this occurs when the pronunciation would otherwise cause confusion, due to a similarity with aother expression. How many students confuse: Ils ont & Ils sont or
Ils amusent & Ils s'amusent

A. After a singular noun
l'étudiant est pret
un garçon intelligent

B. After "et" (and)
en haut et en bas
un garçon et une fille

C. In front of an "h" aspiré (voiced)
les héros
en haut

D. In front of "onze" & "oui"
les onze élèves
un oui et un non

E. After interrogative adverbs & toujours
Combien en avez-vous?
Comment est-il?
Quand as-tu mangé?
toujours ici

F. After inversion
Sont-ils arrivés?
Vont-elles assister?
A-t-on étudié?
Parlez-vous anglais?

G. An adjective or number + another kind of word
Ils sont beaux à minuit.
Donnez-en deux à Paul.
Les livres sont bons ici.

H. Pronoun + another kind of word
Mettez=les ici.
Ceux avec qui je parle.....

III. OPTIONAL LIASON:

The more formal tends to use liason but informal speech hardly ever. Then, in poetry, everything you can!

A. After plural nouns
les hommes arrivent
des livres utiles

B. Between 2-part verbal structures
Je suis allée
ils ont eu
tu vas aller

C. Present tense of être + noun, adjective or adverb
il est idiot
il est heureux
il est ici

D. After multi-syllable adverbs & prepositions
assez utile
tellement avare
après être venu
depuis un an

E. Some conjunctions
mais enfin
puis on est arrivé

F. After verbs
Ils arriveront à midi
Elle prend un livre

ENCHAINEMENT (not to be confused with liason)

When a consonant sound at the end of a word (not necessarily the last letter) is transferred to the beginning of the word that follows. This final consonant or "sound" would be heard with or without enchaînement.

sept sept enfants
avec avec elle
elle elle est
entre entre eux

Now, aren't you glad you asked? :)

Sra (aka Mme)

Answer 3

Thank you so very, very much!!!