French language Q&A Forum

the pronunciation tip at the end of this page says that -ais and -ai are pronounced the same. I found a comment by a duolingo mod linking to two pages that says otherwise:

http://bernardcousin.over-blog.com/pages/DE_LIMPORTANCE_DE_BIEN_PRONONCER-8743192.html

https://www.lalanguefrancaise.com/5-astuces-pour-ne-plus-confondre-le-conditionnel-et-le-futur

On forvo it does indeed sound like there is a subtle difference between aimerai and aimerais. é vs è. I hear the difference best when listening to other -ais words on forvo such as vais, sais, etc. It is subtle, but can someone else confirm that there is indeed an actual difference that contradicts the tip on this page?

In the phrase "Elle attire ainsi une société aisée qui construit….." why are attirer and construire conjugated in the present? (The translation confirms that they are, as we would expect, in the past.)

Someone presented the example, "merci de m'aimer" which I believe means, "please love me" rather than "thanks for loving me" and directed them to this lesson. However, "merci de m'avoir aimé" doesn't, in my mind, capture the sense of "thanks for loving me" as an ongoing action/effect.  After digging further, I found some texts such as, "merci de m'aimer autant" and "merci de m'aimer" on reverso. I'd like to test my instinct and the found examples. Is this an exception where the construction will retain the sense of thanks rather than a polite request, due to context, or are these examples incorrect?

Tangential follow up question: I understand "du cadeau" will be interpreted sarcastically, but is this only for physical gifts? For example, I have found a bit of text with "merci du cadeau de ta présence". Does the modification into a more conceptual gift change meaning, or is this simply incorrect, wanting instead, "merci pour le cadeau de..."?

Merci de m'éclairer! 

Je les ai jois (s?) que Maman a cueillie(s?)  How does it work here, where you have the fraises referenced by the les before the ai?  Do both of these need to agree?

If faire du cheval means "I'm horseback riding", who would one say "I am taking horseback riding lessons"?

In the video,  you have 3eme, 4eme, 5eme whereas in the lesson you have 3e, 4e, 5e...  are both used or is one used more frequently or is one more formal than the other?

Merci

In an example: Ma mère m'a acheté une robe ________. 

Can't you use either nouvelle or neuve?

J'ai envie d'une nouvelle voiture" means: select ... I need a new car... envy his new car.. want a new car.. they want “I want a new car”.. 

shouldn’t it be “I would like”?.. would not I want be je veux?