French language Q&A Forum

Hello,

When I looked up crayons in WordReference it showed "crayon gras" but not "crayon à la cire." Would crayons gras work here?

Hi, I would like to know which one is correct.

"il parle le français de mieux en mieux."

"il parle de mieux en mieux le français."

Hi, 

I'm wondering why we would say 'on a dégusté des spécialités lyonnaises' rather than 'on dégustait des spécialités lyonnaises'. I thought that we would use the imperfect in this case as it happened over an extended period of time?

I know this question has already been somewhat addressed earlier (I'll quote the comments here), but I didn't find the answer very clarifying. So I'll repeat the issue, quote the explanations that were given, and attempt to explain why I'm still confused.

In a test question, we are asked:

How would you say ''I haven't been in France for long.'' ?

The only tenable-seeming answers are: 

-Je ne suis pas arrivé en France depuis longtemps (marked correct)

-Je n'arrive pas en France depuis longtemps (marked incorrect)

In spite of the questionable use of the verb "arriver", I actually chose the latter option on the basis that, in the lesson, we are told: 

– Ne ... pas + Passé composé + depuis longtemps = not for a long time / not in ages -> It's over and done in the past

– Ne ... pas + Présent indicatif + depuis longtemps = not long / not for long -> It started a short while ago, and is still ongoing

Commenting on the issue, Cécile's gives this transition:

– I haven't been in France for long = Je ne suis pas en France depuis longtemps.

Like the instructions in the lesson, and the second answer in the quiz (which was marked incorrect), this translation conforms with the use of the Présent indicatif + depuis longtemps to describe something that "is still ongoing."

Chris, however, gives two translations:

Je ne suis pas en France depuis longtemps.

Je ne suis pas arrivé en France depuis longtemps.

He then explains "The former sentence talks about a period which started in the past and continues up until the present time. The second one focuses on the event of the arrival, which has no connection to the present."

For me personally, this explanation is too terse and opaque to clarify anything. It fails to explain what focusing on "the event of the arrival" changes in terms of grammar rules. Further, it doesn't acknowledge, in this instance at least, the fact that the lesson's instructions are seemingly contravened, or explain why this is so. 

Either there is a mistake in the quiz (which is doubtful), or another section needs to be added to the lesson to explain this exception. 

How do you add accents on an English QWERTY keyboard when typing in French?

Nous nous sommes brossé les cheveux. 

This was the answer. Why doesn't "brossé" end in "s"?

Hi, what if I want to use a proper noun for a place, such as a restaurant name?
For example, "I am eating at Pizza Hut."

Thanks!