About “le” replacing already mentioned ideas

Question

I learned the following sentences in my textbook: "Tu es étudiante?" "Oui, je le suis."

But my teacher told me it is not commonly used in France. People usually just say "Oui, je suis étudiante."

Is this true? Is it because le is usually only used to replace long sentences?

If I want to use le, is it placed before the verb?

jlliagre · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-16 00:55:44Z

2

Yes, your teacher is right. Je le suis is formal, somewhat ceremonial and unexpected in such a dialog.

Even to answer to a longer question, je le suis wouldn't be used, e.g.:

Tu es une étudiante qui vient de Serbie pour apprendre la français ?

Oui, c'est ça !

answered Nov 16 '17 at 0:55

jlliagre

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Does it mean we don't use "le" in our daily conversation as it's too formal? – Tina Nov 16 '17 at 2:19
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We often use le in daily conversations, e.g. je le prend = "I take it", but for some reason, we do not use it in that particular phrase je le suis. (we use je le suis when it is the verb suivre = "I follow him".) – jlliagre Nov 16 '17 at 2:26

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