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14,865 questions • 32,303 answers • 1,003,790 learners
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Questions answered by our learning community with help from expert French teachers
14,865 questions • 32,303 answers • 1,003,790 learners
if present tense is used for historical events, why use ‘La Fontaine est né’ and not ‘La Fontaine naît’?
Are the terms "les lettres" and "la littérature" interchangeable?
When should subject names (les matières) be capitalised?
why is it Aurélie descend de l'avion. and not Aurélie descend du avion or d'avion?(it makes sense that it is de l'avion but idk what grammatical rule dictates that it should be that way)
In the audio for "Quand partent-ils" I hear partetil, I thought it would sound more like par til
Merci
In the example, for actions already done, using the infinitive Passé: "C'était très difficile, merci de m'avoir aidée." It appears the usage demands an agreement (if the speaker in the case was female.) Would it always be the case that agreement should be made?
Ce jour-là, tu me fis le plus beau cadeau. That day, you gave me the most beautiful gift.(HINT: Use le Passé Simple of 'faire') I'm very surprised that faire is used in this here, I thought probably donner. Is faire correct in this context?
I translated "to be honest" as "à vrai dire" instead of "pour être honnête" but it wasn't accepted. Is there a difference between the two?
Also, my dictionary suggested repérer for "to spot," i.e., "je l'ai repéré par la baie..." Does this not work?
J'ajouterais Agnès Varda et Chantal Akerman à cette liste. Je pense qu'elles sont Belges mais elles encore sont formidables. Catherine Breillat est provocatrice mais ses films sont souvent excellents.
I echo the comments below regarding this lesson lacking clarity.
The explanation of when it IS appropriate to use 'devoir' is missing and I find it easier to just memorise the correct answers rather than try to answer them using knowledge of the grammar rules.
In the two examples above, the expression ''They can't believe'' is translated as Ils n'arrivent pas a croire. I believe it could also be translated as Ils ne peuvent pas croire. If so, is there a preference in spoken French?
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