French language Q&A Forum

Could a native speaker weigh in on the following dictionary examples that use "en" for people?

- https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/french-english/en

>> Combien d’élèves y a-t-il dans ta classe ? – Il y en a trente. — How many pupils are there in your class? – There are 30.

- https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais-anglais/en/28919

>> Tous les invités ne sont pas arrivés, il en manque deux. — All the guests haven't arrived yet, two are missing.

What if the turtle pet is male, and its name is Marc. Would it be "Mon tortue s'appelle Marc"

Same goes to cow, the word "vache" is feminine, if we want to say a male cow, would it be "un vache"?

https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/passe-compose-vs-imparfait/

It says that Imparfait describes an ongoing state yet entirely in the past and Passé Composé indicates a change still continues today.

When you say J’aimais l’école, does it mean that you liked it but not anymore or that you still like it?

Imparfait means that something was true for an uncertain period of time but no longer valid?

Passé Composé is for something that has become true and is still valid?

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

I had a test question to fill in the blanks: comment ___ vos enfants? 

I put : vont-ils

The answer is : vont

I don't understand why I am wrong. If so, how to express the same meaning with inverted question? Thanks.

The lesson says to use "il a les yeux bleus" but  the test says "Il avait les yeux noisettes", as wrong. I am not sure what is the exception even though I am learning a language of exceptions

The English translation “I love the strawberries that Mum picked up.” suggests that Mum went to the store to buy them, or somewhere else to collect them. If the meaning was that she picked them off the plant, then the sentence should be “I love the strawberries that Mum picked.”