French language Q&A Forum

Whilst not specific to this lesson - there are lot of references in these lessons to language choices that are "more elegant" than another.  Is this just another way of saying "more formal", or do the French have a specific desire or appreciation for elegant language?  In English we would never describe our language choices as one way being more elegant than another.  I'm just curious!

What is the difference between vite and rapidement?

Why is it the Canal du Midi and not the Canal de Midi, given that Midi describes the Canal and not the Midi is possessive of the Canal.   

Hello everyone. I was taking a quiz in which I respond like this "nous nous sommes brossés les chevaux" but the site says that it is nearly correct and this version is correct " nous nous sommes brossé les chevaux". And it made me curious because the subject is plural and there is a  reflexive verb!!!! Anyone could explain this contradiction?

Thanks 

In the example, “Achète-t-il des pâtes?”:

“achète” technically ends in a vowel but it ends in a T sound, right? So why is the extra “t” necessary?

I believe that “I arrived the day he left” refers to a non-specific timeframe and therefore should use the feminine form, but it was marked wrong on my test and the masculine “la jour” was said to be correct instead. Can someone explain to me why this would be the case, or if it’s an error?