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🙏🏻
In the phrase, '"ce qui m'a enfin permis de m'ouvrir" why isn't there an "e" at the end of "permis", since the direct object, "m", is a woman?
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🙏🏻
Pour moi, question 8, on the 8th February 2023, Nous ne voyons personne» means : ....I put 'we never see anyone' which you have said is incorrect. In english We don't (do not) see anyone, can also mean 'we are particular who we see'. Is this the same in french for Nous ne voyons personne, if so why is it not clarified?
Where has the link to this lesson gone for above mentioned special cases of past participle agreeing with the object when using avoir? I would like to see this lesson,it is not popping up in my feed as the question is only testing Quelles (A2)..
Thanks, Danielle
In the sentence,"Selon les témoins que j'ai interviewés, et aussi incroyable que cela paraisse, un hélicoptère se serait posé dans la cour de promenade de la prison et La Fuite serait monté à bord avant qu'il ne redécolle, tout ça en quelques minutes à peine !", I don't understand the use of the present tense of redécoller when we are discussing something that happened in the past in particular when it is preceded by two past perfect verbs, se poser and monter. Also, why is ne inserted before redécoller?
Why not just "jusqu'août"? What does the 'en" bring that is not already there? Thanks.
I agree with Frank. In the audio there are complete phrases which are missing: "une poule faite en chocolat au lait"; and "un lapin fait en chocolat noir".
Also, the written summary at the end doesn't match what is given during the lesson. The answers given don't use the expression, "fait de" but simply use "de". Which leads me to the next question:
The use of "faite de + chocolat au lait/chocolat noir". The lesson related to this states that to describe what something is made of "en" or "de" is used and with foods "a la" or "au" to describe a flavor. Why then is "fait en..." used rather than "une poule en chocolat au lait" for example? And, why "une poule de chocolat" rather than, "une poule en chocolat"?
And, why "un beau rubin dore" rather than "un beau rubin en or" ?
Merci pour votre reponse.
Can anyone explain what the difference between the passe compose and past perfect forms of devoir are? google translate shows them as being the same thing:
J'ai dû faire quelque chose -> I had to do something
J'avais dû faire quelque chose -> I had to do something
Similarly what is the difference between the future and conditional forms:
j'aurai dû faire quelque chose -> I should have done something
j'aurais dû faire quelque chose -> I should have done something
Thanks!
Si seulement c'était si facile de rendormir les enfants :-)
Are these correct?
1. J'étais née le lundi 26 mars 1983.
2. J'étais née lundi. (I was born on Monday) ...talking about a specific context / specific thing that happened on that day, so no "le" used?
3. La réunion est le mercredi 14 avril à 8h.
4. La réunion est mercredi. (The meeting is on Wednesday) .....talking about a specific context / specific thing that will happen on that day, so no "le" used?
Find your French level for FREE
Test your French to the CEFR standard
Find your French level