French language Q&A Forum

'But at the moment I was putting it on' - how does that translate to 'mais au moment de l'enfiler' - where's the 'I' and why is it in present tense? 

Why is fut used in the above, rather than était.To the best of my knowledge, we have not been introduced to the Historic?

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 !”?

Hello , to my understanding , there are 2 types of question ,formal and informal . But what type is this that the question "Combien coûte ce livre ?" belongs to ?, Because it's not follow the formulas for formal type ( Est-ce que or inversion ) . And it's not also follow the formula itonation for informal type (question word + statement itonation) like Combien ce livre coûte ?. Why combien is an adverb but can be followed by a verb (coûte).  So it confuses me here  . Can you explain for me please ?

A little unclear re the use of the above. What is the difference, if any, between the following ?:

J'ai peu d'amis and J'ai quelques amis

please do you have something for beginners?

The English text says "I crossed the Garonne river...", but the French text uses "nous" throughout. Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/VIvVD4V

Why is it not "....qu'elle s'agit....." as both the sculpture (which we know is a woman and is specific) is feminine and/or Catherine is feminine? 

Also is the use of the conditional perfect, because this is a legend and therefore there is some doubt as to whether it actually happened?

I think I've finally gotten the "ce qui" vs "ce que" vs. "qui/e" down, but I'm utterly confused about when "quoi" is used.  When I see "what is," I invariably think "quoi," but I'm usually wrong.  The best rule I've determined is to use "quoi" with an infinitive, "je ne sais pas quoi faire," but is that really it for "quoi"?  Thanks!

Is there any difference between "il a fait exprès de casser ma poupée" and "il a cassé ma poupée exprès"?

I've only ever encountered the latter before, and it seems more straightforward to not have the extra verb floating around, but perhaps there's a subtle difference that I'm missing?