English Speakers and French subtleties Hey everyone,
I’m a novice when it comes to spoken French and the subtleties of the language but I really want to do it justice when I reference it in my novel. The particular scene I need help with is a first person account of a French woman where she tells the reader about an occasion when was approached by English Gentleman (an official and very well educated) who was fluent French speaker, but not a native, and how she knew he wasn't French. I wanted to include details of how she
she might have missed initially if she wasn’t paying too much attention to him but as her guard was up already in the scene, she was able to spot the giveaways that others may have missed.
Whether it be pronunciation, tense, inflection or something to do with the time etc.
The English man in the scene approached the French woman when she’s at work in a post office and hands her a note. He tells her something along the lines of ”I need this delivered by tomorrow morning, 9:30 at the latest. Tracked” with a French name and address on the envelope. I’m thinking something around the way he says the time could be interesting, but I’m not sure how it would work yet?
What are some subtle giveaways that native French speakers pick up with non native French speakers that indicate to them them that they’re not French? (That aren’t so obvious.)
Any thoughts will be helpful. Thank you for your time🙏🏻
Ils vont visiter 'la tour Eiffel' ce matin.
Would it be replaced by a direct object or y
They will visit it = la or they will visit there = y
Ils vont la visiter or ils vont y visiter.
Sorry to add to an already long thread, but I have a feeling that when using "on" as informal "we" (rather than impersonal "one") I’ve seen "nous" used as the stress pronoun, not "soi". Is that right?
In the first sentence of the full text at the end of the lesson, the last phrase text reads "...mon père et moi avons décidé d'aller à la pêche !", but the audio says ..."alors, mon père et moi avons décidé d'aller à la pêche !"
During the exercise, the text for this phrase also reads "...mon père et moi avons décidé d'aller à la pêche !", but the audio says"...donc, mon père et moi avons décidé d'aller à la pêche !"
Since "comme" is the qualifier in the preceding phrase, the use of either "alors" or "donc" doesn't seem to make sense.
Est-ce que c'est necessaire pour repèter "dois" apres "dernière"? C'est une structure parallel in cui la premiere "fois" est assume. Comme en anglais:. It was the first time, but will probably be the last. Sans "fois" encore. Merci beaucoup.
La traduction de " students were welcomed by..." n' est-elle pas "furent accueillis" au lieu de "ont été accueillis" ?
HI,
My friend and I were wondering who would be correct.
She said: The sentence would be vous venez à hurt heures ce soir?
But, I told her the sentence should be Vous venez à vingt-deux ce soir. Since it would be the 24 hour clock for 8pm. Would I be correct?
Thanks
Nicole
En place de: Il ne faut pas que nous mangions avec nos doigts, puisqu'on dire: I faut que nous ne mangions pas avec nos doigts?
Hey everyone,
I’m a novice when it comes to spoken French and the subtleties of the language but I really want to do it justice when I reference it in my novel. The particular scene I need help with is a first person account of a French woman where she tells the reader about an occasion when was approached by English Gentleman (an official and very well educated) who was fluent French speaker, but not a native, and how she knew he wasn't French. I wanted to include details of how she
she might have missed initially if she wasn’t paying too much attention to him but as her guard was up already in the scene, she was able to spot the giveaways that others may have missed.
Whether it be pronunciation, tense, inflection or something to do with the time etc.
The English man in the scene approached the French woman when she’s at work in a post office and hands her a note. He tells her something along the lines of ”I need this delivered by tomorrow morning, 9:30 at the latest. Tracked” with a French name and address on the envelope. I’m thinking something around the way he says the time could be interesting, but I’m not sure how it would work yet?
What are some subtle giveaways that native French speakers pick up with non native French speakers that indicate to them them that they’re not French? (That aren’t so obvious.)
Any thoughts will be helpful. Thank you for your time🙏🏻
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