Translate: They need us to arrive before the beginning of the ceremony.I don't understand why arrivions was incorrect and soyons arrivés correct when:
The correct translation for "They need us to arrive before the ceremony begins" is "Ils ont besoin que nous arrivions avant le début de la cérémonie."
Explanation
Ils ont besoin que nous arrivions avant le début de la cérémonie
This phrase uses the subjunctive present (nous arrivions) of "arriver."
It expresses a requirement concerning a future action (our arriving) that must happen before a specific event (the ceremony starts).
This is the most natural and idiomatic way in French to say that someone needs you to arrive before a certain point in time.
Ils ont besoin que nous soyons arrivés avant le début de la cérémonie
This form uses the past subjunctive (nous soyons arrivés).
It emphasizes the state of having already arrived by the time the ceremony begins, which can sound overly formal, final, or focused on the end result.
In everyday French, this structure is less commonly used for planned requirements about the future.
Why?
French typically uses the present subjunctive ("nous arrivions") after verbs that express necessity or desire (like "avoir besoin que") unless you need to stress that the action will be completed before the reference point in the past or for a resultative state.
In the context of "They need us to arrive before the ceremony begins," the English meaning aligns exactly with the present subjunctive in French.
So, the most natural and correct answer is:
Ils ont besoin que nous arrivions avant le début de la cérémonie.
If your intent was, "They need us to have already arrived before the ceremony begins," you might use the past subjunctive, but that's not the usual reading of the English sentence.
With pécho (stemming from choper), How would one conjugate it? Or do you not conjugate it at all. For example, nous chopons, becomes nous péchons or just nous pécho?
J'aimerais parler plusieurs de langues et je voudrais voyager dans le monde, aussi, si j'avais d'argent.
I don't understand why arrivions was incorrect and soyons arrivés correct when:
The correct translation for "They need us to arrive before the ceremony begins" is "Ils ont besoin que nous arrivions avant le début de la cérémonie."
Explanation
Ils ont besoin que nous arrivions avant le début de la cérémonie
This phrase uses the subjunctive present (nous arrivions) of "arriver."
It expresses a requirement concerning a future action (our arriving) that must happen before a specific event (the ceremony starts).
This is the most natural and idiomatic way in French to say that someone needs you to arrive before a certain point in time.
Ils ont besoin que nous soyons arrivés avant le début de la cérémonie
This form uses the past subjunctive (nous soyons arrivés).
It emphasizes the state of having already arrived by the time the ceremony begins, which can sound overly formal, final, or focused on the end result.
In everyday French, this structure is less commonly used for planned requirements about the future.
Why?
French typically uses the present subjunctive ("nous arrivions") after verbs that express necessity or desire (like "avoir besoin que") unless you need to stress that the action will be completed before the reference point in the past or for a resultative state.
In the context of "They need us to arrive before the ceremony begins," the English meaning aligns exactly with the present subjunctive in French.
So, the most natural and correct answer is:
Ils ont besoin que nous arrivions avant le début de la cérémonie.
If your intent was, "They need us to have already arrived before the ceremony begins," you might use the past subjunctive, but that's not the usual reading of the English sentence.
I smell good(I took a shower)-je sens bon or I smell well( my nose is working properly)-je sens bien. Are either of this correct?
For,"I love my cousin Benjamin.", Kwizbot's answer: "J'adore mon cousin Benjamin. "
But in the PLF lesson on "aimer", I read that one of the uses of it can be in the love you have for a family member. Therefore, I translated the sentence as "J'aime mon cousin Benjamin."There seemed to be two acceptable answers. No one arrived and Nothing arrived. I picked the 2nd option thinking you could be talking about an object or things possibly you were waiting to receive in the mail. Couldn’t this sentence be translated to nothing arrived especially if you were expecting a letter which is a feminine and aucune could be used as a pronoun for letter ?
Could someone clarify why imperfect is used in the above example? I thought it would be future (je viendra). The linked lesson is "Expressing continuing action with the imperfect tense in French" but this does not seem like a continuing action? And the rest of the sentence is in future tense as well.
Thanks in advance!
Je trouve très dificille l'utilisation du peut et peux. Il y a un truc?
To my ear, recemment sounds like rekemment rather than resemment. A hard c rather than a soft c. Does anybody else hear this?
Salut à tout le monde. J’suis nouveau ici, mais pas à l’apprentissage français. En fait, je l’apprends depuis environ de 40 ans (d’abord au lycée, bien sûr), ce que je trouve un peu gênant, car je le parle toujours mal. Auparavant, mon français était meilleur, et j’ai même habité en France, et étudié en fac là-bas, pendant toute une année (il y a presque 30 ans). Je crois que cette expérience doit avoir imprimé la langue à mon cerveau, en quelque sens, puisqu’il me semble qu’elle me revient assez vite, même si j’ai l’impression d’en avoir oublié beaucoup — en fait, il ne s’agit pas d’être oublié, mais plutôt caché, ou enterré au dessous de plusieurs ans d’abandon. Par contre, j’ai aussi appris l’espagnol pendant trois années il y a environ de dix ans (quand j’étais plus agé), et j’étais assez fort en celui-là (peut-être brevement même plus fort qu’en français), mais je suis certain que j’en ai vraiment oublié tout. Selon le petit examen sur ce site, je suis maintenant au niveau B2 en français. Malgré que j’aie fait des erreurs bêtes et évidentes, que j’ai reconnues tout de suite en les revoyant, cet examen-là n'éprouve pas l’oral, alors en somme je dirais que c’est juste. Peut-être que mon niveau passé fut plus élevé, plus proche à C1, mais je peux pas dire en verité.
Find your French level for FREE
And get your personalised Study Plan to improve it
Find your French level