apprendre à versus apprendre

Andrea N.B2Kwiziq community member

apprendre à versus apprendre

I came across this recently and had difficulty finding a definitive answer. Examples of usage would be helpful. I read that 'to teach someone' one needs either a noun or pronoun acting as an Indirect object. If you could kindly provide some pointers it would be great.

Asked 4 years ago
CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi Andrea, 

Apprendre quelque chose is to learn something -

e.g.

J'ai appris le français à l'école primaire I learnt French at primary school

Mon fils apprend à nager = My son is learning to swim

For to teach you can use -

apprendre quelque chose à quelqu'un 

e.g.

Mon père m'a appris à conduire = My father taught me to drive 

Jacqueline apprend à Nathalie à jouer aux échecs Jacqueline is teaching Nathalie to play chess

also enseigner is to teach  something

e.g.

J'enseigne l'anglais à la Sorbonne = I am teaching English at the Sorbonne

Nous enseignons le français aux étrangers We are teaching French to foreigners

Hope this helps! 

 

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

J’apprends le français — I am learning French.

Le prof apprend le français aux étudiants. — The professor teaches French to the students. 

Andrea N. asked:

apprendre à versus apprendre

I came across this recently and had difficulty finding a definitive answer. Examples of usage would be helpful. I read that 'to teach someone' one needs either a noun or pronoun acting as an Indirect object. If you could kindly provide some pointers it would be great.

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