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Cade B.A2KwizIQ community member

"on" vs "tu" and "vous" for you"I have been taking the writing challenge to test it out for future use with my students. I notice that when translating a 'you' statement the correct responses never include the option for using 'tu' or 'vous' and instead rely on using only 'on'. I understand the benefit of teaching the impersonal 'on' but feel that the 'tu' and 'vous' versions of the sentence should also be counted as correct. The 'on' pronoun in my understanding of spoken French is more commonly used as 'we' though it of course can be interpreted in many ways. I wonder if requiring it to be the only translation accepted for a 'you' statement might be leading the students toward a misunderstanding of the pronoun. Thanks for listening! I love the product so far."

Asked 8 years ago

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D. A.A2KwizIQ community member

Passer with être and avoir

In one of the writing challenges, the sentence "As soon as we passed the door," is translated into French as:

Aussitôt que nous avons passé la porte,

In reviewing the grammar topic "Passer can be used with avoir or être in Le Passé Composé... and changes meaning," however, I'm having trouble understanding the usage here. The grammar page says that "passer" is used with être for:

pass by <somewhere>, go past <something/somewhere>, stop by <somewhere>, pop by <somewhere>

In this case, it seems the sentence is "passing by (somewhere)" or "going past (somewhere)"

For avoir, the examples are = spend <some time>, take <a test or exam> , and pass <something> (to someone), none of which seem to match this sentence.

Can someone please explain why using "avoir" instead of "être" is considered correct in this case?

Thank you!

Asked 8 years ago

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Zain A.A1KwizIQ community member

Dans le vs. au

What is the difference when saying dans le and au for masculine countries? and how to know when to use either? does dans le mean in the country and au means to the country??

Asked 6 years ago

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Judy R.B2KwizIQ community member

Changing "des, du, de la, de l', des" to "de" in negative sentences

Why is it "Je n'ai pas peur des examens" and NOT "Je n'ai pas peur d'examens". Thank you.

Asked 5 years ago

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Olive J.A1KwizIQ community member

How do I say it in the past? I got up,I brushed my teeth.I bathed

Asked 10 years ago

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David S.C1KwizIQ Q&A regular contributor

Garbage = les poubelles or les déchets

In the B2 writing challenge "Pre-date stress"

"he'd taken out the garbage"
is translated

"il avait sorti les poubelles"

but isn't this just as valid:

"il a sorti les déchets"

The first assumes that the person is taking a trash can out (to the street) but the second (describing the situation in my house) assumes the person is taking (bagged) garbage out to the trash can.

If so shouldn't the excercise be updated?

Asked 8 years ago

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Denis P.A0KwizIQ community member

Vous avez fatigue?

Asked 9 years ago

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