French language Q&A Forum

Questions answered by our learning community with help from expert French teachers

15,057 questions • 32,702 answers • 1,039,320 learners

Find your French level for FREE

And get your personalised Study Plan to improve it

Find your French level

sue c.C1KwizIQ Q&A regular contributor

not really a question but a requestcould you include an impersonal in your examples such as the gas leak one becaue the il n'y ait threw me , not having given it due consideration. many thanks

Asked 9 years ago

Maarten K.C1KwizIQ Q&A super contributor

Ognon ou oignon - les deux sont corrects

It may not have caught on generally, but I have seen the revised spelling of 'ognon' in use in supermarkets. Should be accepted as correct spelling, as well as the 'traditional' oignon (1990 rectifications).

Asked 5 years ago

David C.B1KwizIQ community member

Ce sont vs Elles sontJ'utilise ces tomates. ________ les dernières

I believe that "Elles sont" should be used here because we are talking about specific tomatoes. Yet "Ce sont" is correct here - why?

Asked 6 years ago

Paul F.C1KwizIQ Q&A super contributor

Circonflexe optional on disparaître?

I think that since the spelling reforms introduced into schools in France in 2016, the circonflexe over the letter "i" is now optional in words like "s'il vous plaît (plait)". I believe that also applies to the word disparaître. But in this exercise it is shown as an error if we type "disparaitre" without the little hat.

Asked 5 years ago

Ron T.C1KwizIQ Q&A super contributor

More specific description pleaseêtre + descendu [de, sur, etc] = to get off [something] = to get out of [something/somewhere] = to go/come down from/to/into [something/somewhere] avoir + descendu [quelque chose] ou [quelqu'un] = to go/come/climb down [something] = to take [something] down -> physically moving [something] to a lower position = to take [someone / animated being] down -> to shoot them down, to kill them There seems to be a lot of ambiguity between the English example meanings between être and avoir usage: to get off [something] = to go/come down from/to/into [something/somewhere] and: = to go/come/climb down [something]. Because in English these translations can have very similar meanings, it is unclear to me, hence the ambiguity, a method to differentiate these two. Could you please elaborate more with a bit more preciseness? Merci en avance.

Asked 8 years ago

Renate A.B2KwizIQ Q&A regular contributor

Why is there an 's' on lu?In statement: il les a tous lus (he has read all of them) why is there an s on lus? It is: il a lu so I presume it's got something to do with tous but I'd like an explanation if possible.

Asked 9 years ago

Paul D.A2KwizIQ community member

Vous faites tous vos devoirs?

1. What is the purpose of the word "tous" in this sentence?

2. Why is the "s" in "tous" pronounced before the " v" in "vos"?

Asked 8 years ago

Joakim R.C1KwizIQ Q&A regular contributor

Pierre n'achète pas de véloAccording to a question here, "Pierre n'achète pas de vélo" means "Pierre doesn't buy any bike". When would you use this phrase and when would you rather say "Pierre n'achète aucun vélo" ?

Asked 10 years ago

Aashpreet K.A1KwizIQ Q&A regular contributor

Haut/Haute et Bas/Basse

What about haut/haute (high) and bas/basse (low) ? Do they come before a noun or after?

Asked 3 years ago

M a.B1KwizIQ community member

CP VS le subjonctif? Hey! I was wondering if one could sometimes replace the conditionnel passé with the subjonctif, and vice versa. This because the CP also technically deals with "judged" (you should have done x" situations?

Asked 9 years ago

Find your French level for FREE

And get your personalised Study Plan to improve it

Find your French level

Getting that for you now...