One might wonder if a normally constituted French person would be able to understand a sentence repeated five times with the same sound. In the case of this sentence, there are four different words that are pronounced the same way.

I will demonstrate that a French person is quite capable of perfectly understanding this sentence.

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The sentence in question contains four homophones: the first « ver », which refers to a small soft-bodied animal; the « vert », for the color; the « vers », which indicates a direction; and finally, the « verre », used for drinking.

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Let’s start with the first « ver ». Why would it be obvious in this sentence that we are talking about a « ver » and not a « verre » to drink? The indication comes from the verb "va", which implies movement. Indeed, a « verre » cannot move by itself.

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For the following « vert », it is clear that it refers to the color. In French, the adjective generally comes after the noun. The only adjective that exists with this pronunciation is « vert », which also refers back to the color of the glass at the end of the sentence.

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Next, the « vers » can be understood thanks to its position in the sentence. It is located just after the verb, and the use of the verb "aller" reinforces the idea of direction.

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Finally, regarding the « verre » for drinking, there could be confusion about the destination of the « ver ». One might wonder whether it is heading towards a « verre » or another « ver ». However, if I wanted to clarify this, I would say: « un ver vert va vers un autre ver vert », rather than the initial formulation. Thus, I deduce that in this context, it indeed refers to a « verre » to drink.

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There are two reasons why I decided to write this article:

First, because it amuses me.

Second, because it is a way to show that in French, it is essential to put words in the correct order. As in this example, a disorder in the sentence would make its interpretation difficult.

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After reading this article, you are now capable of explaining in detail each element of this sentence and the reasons that make it perfectly understandable.