Difficulty with de/d' vs de + article variationsIn the discussion following several of the lessons, there are often questions like Donna's. And, without being unkind to the wonderful moderators/teachers, in NONE of the answers had I seen a really 'eureka' moment of clarification.
And then I searched THE SITE and came across this amazing lesson!
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/de-vs-du-de-la-des-verbs/.It is brilliant and clears up so much. I think that lesson should be included as a ' 'highlighted related lesson'' to this one and others like ' avoir peur'.
Additionally, in the lesson quoted above there is coverage of phrases meaning "all/specific/adjectivally modified" nouns.
Two great examples of 'avoir envie' are given.
" Il a envie de bon chocolat. He wants (some) good chocolate."
"Il a envie du bon chocolat que tu m’as donné. He wants the good chocolate that you gave me."
Please add or indicate why NOT a similar distinction for the very common 'avoir besoin'.
You have
"J’ai besoin de bonnes chaussures. I need (some) good shoes."
If I were to say to a store clerk "I need (the) special shoes with the orthopedic lifts" would I say ;
"J’ai besoin des chaussures spéciales avec orthopédie."
Merci! Looking forward to the answer.
I think it would be useful pedagogically to tie faire exprès de to the english express in the sense of express intent
Is it that pronom 'où' is followed by a noun or subject pronoun?
As seen in above examples.
Thanks a lot
In a couple of academic articles I'm reading which are written in French, equations are numbered things like: "(2.1)" for "equation 1 from section 2", "(5.15)" for "equation 15 from section 5", etc. How would one pronounce these numbers? For instance in English, I would pronounce "(2.1)" as "two point one" and "(5.15)" as "five point 15".
Hey! Why in the examples is it "j'ai de chance" and not "J'ai de la chance"?
In this listening practice, it is stated that the preferred response is 'je prends mon petit-déjeuner' - that is, with the hyphen. I left the hyphen out. Checking on the Academie Francaise site dictionary, it does not appear to recognise the hyphenated form as being accepted at all, and refers to déjeuner as either the first or midday meal, noting that in common use 'un petit déjeuner' is used for 'a breakfast'. It does note that déjeuner itself is also a verb intransitive form, but does not list petit-déjeuner (or the informal petit-déj) as accepted. The Academie is obviously prescriptive generally and French for France, but even for dictionairies with a more descriptive approach, such as Larousse, the hyphenated form is not listed as a 'noun', and only as being used as a V.I. (familier) at times (ie Je petit-déjeuner and translated as meaning «je prends (son) petit déjeuner». On the other hand, le Robert dico en ligne, does denote the hyphenated form as a noun. At the least, I think it is incorrect in the lesson to suggest the preferred form should be hyphenated, as at best it seems to me an argument can be made that either is acceptable (although not if the Academie remains the ultimate reference for material on this website). Worth a look?
In the discussion following several of the lessons, there are often questions like Donna's. And, without being unkind to the wonderful moderators/teachers, in NONE of the answers had I seen a really 'eureka' moment of clarification.
And then I searched THE SITE and came across this amazing lesson!
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/de-vs-du-de-la-des-verbs/.It is brilliant and clears up so much. I think that lesson should be included as a ' 'highlighted related lesson'' to this one and others like ' avoir peur'.
Additionally, in the lesson quoted above there is coverage of phrases meaning "all/specific/adjectivally modified" nouns.
Two great examples of 'avoir envie' are given.
" Il a envie de bon chocolat. He wants (some) good chocolate."
"Il a envie du bon chocolat que tu m’as donné. He wants the good chocolate that you gave me."
Please add or indicate why NOT a similar distinction for the very common 'avoir besoin'.
You have
"J’ai besoin de bonnes chaussures. I need (some) good shoes."
If I were to say to a store clerk "I need (the) special shoes with the orthopedic lifts" would I say ;
"J’ai besoin des chaussures spéciales avec orthopédie."
Merci! Looking forward to the answer.
I fear that you drive too fast.
Could you please tell me why a 'ne' would be in this sentence? I have
copied your test question.
Thank you, Jennifer
Find your French level for FREE
And get your personalised Study Plan to improve it
Find your French level