Enthusiastic support for the passé simple.Unlike some comment leavers on this page, I *adore* the passé simple and I find it extremely useful.
That probably has a lot to do with the fact that I enjoy reading French history and literature. (For example, Les Trois mousquetaires is an amazing romp ! Much better in the original French than in any English translation that I've seen.)
I would be hopelessly confused in my reading without a solid understanding of the passé simple (to say nothing of the passé antérieur and *all* the tenses of the subjonctif) !
Different people learn French for different purposes. All the purposes are legitimate, in my view. It's a pretty big website, and I support the principle that the lessons should cover as much of la langue française as possible.
That said, I would be grateful to have more coverage of informal French. When I watch movies, I often find myself at a loss to understand what is being said by one character to another, even though I have a pretty good command of C1-level formal French. Maybe mine is a minority interest, but I just want to mention it.
In any case:
Great site! Many thanks!
When do you use "que" and when do you use "dont"?
"Elle est soulagée de ne pas devoir être opérée."
Is this the infinitif passé, please?
And if not - what!
In English there is a strong feeling to want to say “the period”. Below, the definite article is missing, so it’s just “période”. Is this just the way it is in French?
“se levait et se couchait en même temps que le Soleil du vingt-deux juillet au vingt-trois août, période pendant laquelle apparaissaient les fortes chaleurs.”
I found one of your recent posts awhile back and now I fully understand it. It helped me a lot and now i'm hoping it will help me do better with the tests.
thanks again
Celine
I was going to choose the right answer when I second guessed myself because of the "de". How would you say "I'm watching from beautiful hills"? What would "Je regarde à les belles collines" translate into, or is this sentence completely incorrect?
I put "passé" rather than "passée" - usually a straightforward mistake - but on this occasion, I'm thinking and thinking, but I can't see what it is that "passée" is agreeing with. La soixantaine? Or Forme physique? And if so, why ?
Unlike some comment leavers on this page, I *adore* the passé simple and I find it extremely useful.
That probably has a lot to do with the fact that I enjoy reading French history and literature. (For example, Les Trois mousquetaires is an amazing romp ! Much better in the original French than in any English translation that I've seen.)
I would be hopelessly confused in my reading without a solid understanding of the passé simple (to say nothing of the passé antérieur and *all* the tenses of the subjonctif) !
Different people learn French for different purposes. All the purposes are legitimate, in my view. It's a pretty big website, and I support the principle that the lessons should cover as much of la langue française as possible.
That said, I would be grateful to have more coverage of informal French. When I watch movies, I often find myself at a loss to understand what is being said by one character to another, even though I have a pretty good command of C1-level formal French. Maybe mine is a minority interest, but I just want to mention it.
In any case:
Great site! Many thanks!
Claire n’a vendu aucun livre au vide-grenier. Please explain why « aucun » is after the past participial and not after n’a aucun vendu? Merci
Here does not 'le' refer to la ganache? So should it not be "La reste de la ganache?"
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?
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