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?

I have trouble hearing the difference between "serai" and "serais".  Does one rely on context, or is there some magic formula that will make everything clear? :)

My comment relates to English rather than French usage in that I think some non-native English speakers may be confused by the sentence in the second example you give. "Sarah didn't use to trust Thomas" The past participle of "to use" in this case is "used " not "use" although it may be that common America English practice may differ. You could employ "use" to say that "I didn't use the books you suggested" but you would need "used" in front of an infinitive such as "I used to live in London" or "I used to trust you". I refer you to Fowler's Modern English Usage 2nd Ed. p670 where it is pointed out that the modern expression "he used to" replaces an arcane "he uses to". Just to point out that English can be just as exacting as French. Cordialement. K