Devoir in imparfait / passé composé In this exercise I got this tense wrong (as I usually do for the verb devoir). The linked lesson on this topic is misleading. It says that when devoir is used in the imparfait e.g je devais, it means I was supposed to do (an obligation, in most cases not met) whereas it has a different meaning in the passé composé where j’ai dû = I had to do, or I must have done (an obligation that was met, or a hypothesis on a past situation). This doesn’t seem to be correct in practice, where if it is a repeated action we would still use the imparfait.
For example, this week’s exercise asked us to translate “... that we had to develop (use nous)”. I put: “que nous avons dû développer” which is in accord with the lesson but was marked as incorrect, with one of the given options being “que nous devions développer”. Although I can see the logic in that, it appears on the surface to directly contradict what the linked lesson tells us.
(Interestingly, in the full text of the passage after the exercise, they used “qu’il fallait développer” which does get around this problem, but it is sort of cheating, as we were told to use “nous” when translating this particular phrase, haha)
I have a question on this writing challenge
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/my-languages/french/exercises/judge/8/3366502?response=458725&page=11
I needed to translate this sentence : but my sister goes swimming every Saturday."
I answered
mais, ma soeœur fait la natation Samedis.
I once learnt (but I am not sure my memory is correct)
faire + activities = the activities you do regularly
aller + nager = occasionally
Am I wrong>?
Still not sure how to distinguish the use of these two. Any help?
It would be useful for this lesson to point out that the issue of agreement only arises with être verbs (and the passive voice). No question arises for example with "Hier, on a quitté le travail plus tôt."
Kwiz question:
Vous mangez de la dinde à Noël ? - Non, on ne mange jamais ________ dinde à Noël. Do you eat turkey at Christmas? - No, we never eat turkey at Christmas.
Please explain why the answer is “de.” I know the partitive article becomes “de” in negative sentences. My confusion is why is it “de” and not “la?” I would think it’d be “la” because you’re talking about turkey in general. Is it a partitive article because the question uses a partitive article?Could you also ask: Vous mangez la dinde à Noël? Non, on ne mange jamais la dinde à Noël.
Is there a lesson/discussion link that addresses when to use the partitive vs the definite article? I haven’t been able to find one. Many thanks for your help!
In this exercise I got this tense wrong (as I usually do for the verb devoir). The linked lesson on this topic is misleading. It says that when devoir is used in the imparfait e.g je devais, it means I was supposed to do (an obligation, in most cases not met) whereas it has a different meaning in the passé composé where j’ai dû = I had to do, or I must have done (an obligation that was met, or a hypothesis on a past situation). This doesn’t seem to be correct in practice, where if it is a repeated action we would still use the imparfait.
For example, this week’s exercise asked us to translate “... that we had to develop (use nous)”. I put: “que nous avons dû développer” which is in accord with the lesson but was marked as incorrect, with one of the given options being “que nous devions développer”. Although I can see the logic in that, it appears on the surface to directly contradict what the linked lesson tells us.
(Interestingly, in the full text of the passage after the exercise, they used “qu’il fallait développer” which does get around this problem, but it is sort of cheating, as we were told to use “nous” when translating this particular phrase, haha)
Okay, so, if I were to say “nous n’avons que regardé un film that would be “we only watched a film” perhaps with the subtext: “and didn’t discuss it, or do anything else with/regarding it?” (I understand this may sound weird if you’re not a film studies major, but I am.) And/or could it be used in response to “you’ve been hanging out with _______??? What have you been doing?!?” as in: “chill, we only watched a movie” in the sense of “we just watched a movie together, that’s all.”
The above, as compared to the corresponding given example, where “nous n’avons regardé qu’un film” means “we only watched a film” with subtext “just the one, only one,” so more numerical than “simply”?
I’m just sort of asking because “that’s all we did!” seems a bit... vague or something? Like differentiating between examples feels a lot like splitting hairs the way it’s described in the lesson? Could just be me, though.
this essay is straight to the point love it
How to make sure your translations are correct in English to French
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