Reflexive verbs (se moquer)I guess I find most reflexive verbs make some kind of sense in that I can see that an action is performed on oneself (e.g. se laver) or somehow internalized (e.g. s'amuser, se demander), Sometimes however I just need to know how words get formed and se moquer has me puzzled.
Best I can tell, it has been around as a reflexive verb for at least 500 years and probably comes from blowing your nose at someone as a gesture of contempt (vulgar Latin: muccare), as such it makes sense to be reflexive - as of course is the modern se moucher . Other theories are se moquer comes from dutch, german or piedmontese words for mumble, grumble or grimace, which also kind of makes sense as reflexives. BTW the theory it comes from Norman words for 'stirring manure' has been discredited* which is just as well because that wouldn't explain the reflexive
I appreciate this isn't exactly a level A1 question, but I was wondering if anyone out there can confirm or deny my theories?
*Accordng to Tresor de la Lange Francaise
Could you explain, in combination, when to use y and when to use en?
Quite often my written answer is marked wrong simply because I failed to insert a space before punctuation. I am trying to train myself to add the space, but it does not come naturally for me when I write in English. Why do you insert a space before certain punctuation marks, notably exclamation, colon and question mark? For example: This sentence ! and This list : and This question ?
It seems you do not insert a space before other punctuation marks, such as period or comma, for example:
Like this, or Like that.
Why ?
I can meet her today = je peux la rencontrer aujourd'hui.
Why do we use "la" instead of "lui'? I'm confused as to when to use le and lui, la and lui. What's the difference?
This is a number written in French: "78,005". How would it be expressed in English?
In this question, the number is already written as english...and not french. Just thought you should know, because I got the question wrong.
I used posé in "et j'y ai placé les tranches de pomme" and it says it is wrong. What is the difference between the verbs poser and placer?
I guess I find most reflexive verbs make some kind of sense in that I can see that an action is performed on oneself (e.g. se laver) or somehow internalized (e.g. s'amuser, se demander), Sometimes however I just need to know how words get formed and se moquer has me puzzled.
Best I can tell, it has been around as a reflexive verb for at least 500 years and probably comes from blowing your nose at someone as a gesture of contempt (vulgar Latin: muccare), as such it makes sense to be reflexive - as of course is the modern se moucher . Other theories are se moquer comes from dutch, german or piedmontese words for mumble, grumble or grimace, which also kind of makes sense as reflexives. BTW the theory it comes from Norman words for 'stirring manure' has been discredited* which is just as well because that wouldn't explain the reflexive
I appreciate this isn't exactly a level A1 question, but I was wondering if anyone out there can confirm or deny my theories?
*Accordng to Tresor de la Lange Francaise
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