French language Q&A Forum

Are there any fixed verbs for pronominal, or any verb can be a pronominal verb ? Somebody, reply please.

Merci en avance !

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. 

When is "le" omitted from "le français"? Is it only with "parler", or is there a general rule? I ask in relation to this Q&A:

"He will study either French or Italian" = "Il étudiera soit le français soit l'italien".

Bonjour.  Comment corrigez-vous les fautes d’orthographe dans la dictée ?  On perd un point avec chaque faute ?  On commence avec 65 points ?  Si c’est le cas, pourquoi ?  C’est le nombre de mots ?

Merci de votre explication.

The narrator of this exercise Le jour des rois was very muffled, like in an echo chamber. 

For those of us trying to translate it is difficult enough to understand the words, but the poor sound quality compounded the difficulty.

Hopefully this can be addressed for future dictees.

Thank you, Norma Zippin

Why can't I write it Madame Lepic instead of Mme?

In the lesson below, it is stated that "se coucher" means "to go to bed"

Conjugate reflexive verb se coucher in the present tense in French (Le Présent)

However, when I wrote "puis il se couche" as corresponding sentence for "then he goes to bed" in the last part of the exercise, it was marked as a mistake and the correct one shown as "puis il va se coucher"

Could you please advise which one is correct ? or have I misunderstood something ?

Why is the translation  'Le club fermera dans dix minutes" wrong in answer to the question "The club closes in 10 minutes'' 

 when 'fermera'  translates to 'will close' Or 'The club will close in 10 minutes'

 But 'Le club ferme dans dix minutes' is the correct answer. Surely 'will close' and 'closes' is the same meaning. 

This fellow doesn't do any linking at all. Where does he live? What's his excuse for not saying C'est tun livre? I know some linking is facultatif, but "C'est un" would seem to be a no-brainer.

I still can't wrap my head around when you use the subjonctif passé instead of the subjonctif présent. Can someone please give me a couple more examples?

Merci :)