glcr

[round mulch]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

Pro tip: you can rename the thread title with `.tr <thread name>`

Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[eager elm]

"re-" is a prefix for repeated action, it doesn't take an accent
"démarrer" does take an accent

accents are like letters, there are words with them and words without, you just need to know the word

[grizzled creek]

but sometimes ré- the prefix does have an accent, like réunifier - is there no specific reason why some use ré and some use re, or is there some phonological reason?

does the prefix dé- always have an accent?

[misty gorge]

the simplest answer is that it reflects how the word is pronounced

why the word is pronounced that way is a bit more complicated

[grizzled creek]

yeah thats what im asking

if it's just an etymological thing you hvae to figure out then that's ok but im wondering if theres something like how e.g. you use im- before labial consonants and in- otherwise

[misty gorge]

oftentimes you'll see ré before vowels, but not exclusively

dé is generally dé-, but can be dés, or des