French language Q&A Forum

If s'inscrire (to register oneself)  uses être as it's a reflexive verb, then why do we say "Le mois dernier, nous avons inscrit Thomas au judo" and not "Le mois dernier, nous sommes inscrits Thomas au judo" ?

I asked a question a while a go about a lesson but can't find the topic anymore. Can I find my question history?

Hi teachers/fellow learners, for the last sentence "où Le Débarquement a eu lieu en 1944" I was under the impression that for known facts we use present tense in French, but it turns out that passé composé is more suitable. Can you tell me more about this? Thank you so much.

I have two separate questions regarding the same example 

The first is…why do you use “sa tête” to mean “his face”? 

The second is…I am sure that there are many colloquial ways or common ways to express “should have” using the verb avoir in its conditional conjugated form when it’s not followed by “dû”, but is it actually proper French grammar? For instance, in one of the above examples, it reads: “Tu aurais vu sa tête quand je suis apparu devant lui.”  Its translation is “You should have seen his face when I appeared in front of him.” Possibly contextually it translates better to should than would. Perhaps if the sentence was “ Tu aurais vu sa tête, si tu avais été là.” Then it’s a true conditional statement-You would have seen his face (condition) if you had been there. So perhaps I’ve answered my question because this really isn’t a conditional statement However, I like rules, I like things to follow those rules (The Container Store is one my happy place-quote from Emily in Paris). I also realize that as I write this, the English language is known for not always following grammatical rules in one sense or another (although I can’t think of any because it makes sense to me as a native English speaker, so please forgive my hypocrisy). Please help me understand when avoir in its conditional form means should when not followed by dû.

What does the tip mean, "Masculin always wins in french?"  I don't understand this.  Kindly elaborate.  Thanks!

can we form a question using subjunctive like est-ce qu'il faut que je prenne ce cours?

How do you say he acted like a king? Il a agi en roi or il a agi comme roi?

I just did a quiz and got an answer wrong. I answered d' in front of eau but the correct answer was de l'.

If that is the case, why do the French say carafe d'eau and not carafe de l'eau?

French for "rifle" is "fusil", while "shotgun" is "fusil de chasse". This suggests the core French word "fusil" means something less specific than "rifle", which in English refers to the spiraled "rifling" along the inside of the barrel, which a shotgun lacks.

However, the Italian word "fusile" can mean either "rifle" or "shotgun", yet also spiral-shaped pasta, despite a shotgun lacking this.

Can anyone explain, s'il vous plait ?