French language Q&A Forum

Why isn’t “Quelle  une bonne idée” an acceptable answer as it is the most literal translation?

Qu'est-ce que tu penses?

but,

Qui est-ce qui vient ce soir?

Just wondering why 'Qui', which ends in a vowel, wouldn't contract when the following word begins with a vowel, as does the example with 'Que'?

Tu es means “you are”

So when you ask someone Are you hungry?

It should be 

Tu es faim?

But why are we saying?

Tu as faim?

I'm not understanding why, in French, when someone is learning something, it is stated as "apprendre à" and not just "apprendre".

For instance: She learns to dance. - Elle apprend à danser.

Given that the unconjugated verb danser literally means "to dance", why do we need to insert à (to) again?

Tangentially, does the verb apprendre ALWAYS take the preposition à? If not, can you give me an example where it wouldn't (and maybe explain why it wouldn't in that situation)?

Thanks!

Cecile, 

Can you please clarify the exact French phrase to be used for the ENGLISH phrase "dry cat food"? I have checked my LAROUSSE FRENCH-ENGLISH-FRENCH dictionary and it does not give the meaning of "des croquettes" as "dry cat food". Google Translate gives the meaning of the English phrase "dry cat food" as "nourriture sèche pour chat". Again the puzzling thing is that Google Translate gives the meaning of the English phrase "dry cat foods"  as "les aliments secs pour chats". I would like to learn the correct phraseology rather  than rely on GOOGLE translate.

Merci beaucoup.