French language Q&A Forum

It is my observation that a Frenchman will do almost anything to avoid double objective pronouns - for fear of making mistakes and because they sound fussy, awkward, and a bit snobbish. As they are used less and less frequently, the "correct" order is being lost even to the French. I have been encouraged by my teachers to reformulate to avoid this mare's nest. So

Je lui ai donné cela plutôt que je le lui ai donné. 

Consider...

1. "Paul should have left earlier."

As I understand it, both these sentences would be translated as "Paul aurait dû partir plus tôt", even though, in English, there is a difference in meaning. Is there a better way to translate #2 to convey the meaning that Paul was compelled to leave?

I thought and had the same meaning and are both passive voice constructions. This comes up in a question asking for an active voice sentence to be turned into a passive. I used which sounds better to me than . So, are reflexive constructions passive voice or not? I was taught, like 50 years ago, that they were. C'est un peu tatillon, mais j'ai envie de savoir.

With regard to “avec nos lèvres gercées, notre chair de poule constante et nos nez écarlates !”

As people have one nose each, should this be “… et notre nez écarlate !”?

Can gagner be used for passing an exam same as réussir/avoir/ obtenir? Am asking because i used it once while speaking to someone. After this lesson i wonder if i used it wrongly.

Should “il l’interrompait” be “il l’interromprait”?