When I used "Je suis une chanteuse," instead of "je suis chanteuse," I was told I was incorrect. But if the person speaking sings but singing isn't her profession, wouldn't "je suis une chanteuse" be correct?

Asked 3 years ago

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H. A.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

"Hardly" versus "hardly ever"

The given translation of « Mes sœurs ne font guère les magasins » is "My sisters hardly go shopping". This is not idiomatic in English; you would say "My sisters hardly ever go shopping". In English, we would use "hardly" on its own to imply some limitation in the action; for example, "He can hardly write (because he is only 4 years old)". But if the limitation is to do with time, then the correct expression is "hardly ever"; for example, "He hardly ever writes (because he's busy doing other things)".

I think in the article on ne ... guère, this distinction should be made. As it stands, "hardly ever" isn't mentioned at all.

How would this distinction be made in French?

Asked 4 years ago

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Henryk G.B2Kwiziq community member

Pluriel ou singular

How can you distinguish "le costume" form "les costumes" while listening. It sounds the same for me.

Asked 5 years ago

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i. l.C1Kwiziq community member

toute or toutes

In "nos premières vacances toute seules", why is it "toute" and not "toutes", to go with "seules"?

Asked 5 years ago

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Leslie S.B2Kwiziq community member

Liaison is governing the use of gender modification of tout for tout+adjective

I think I have this right, and this may have been stated before. I was confused by the two examples below, as were other people; the question being, why doesn't tout change to toute because it is modifying a feminine adjective? I realized that the whole point is to always ensure that the speaker says the "t" at the end of the word >. In these two examples, the speaker will automatically say the t sound because of the rules of liaison, so no gender modification is necessary. In speaking, we just need to know to always say tout with the hard t at the end, regardless of spelling. It would be easy to make a mistake in writing however. Did I get this right?

Sa sœur est tout heureuse de sa nouvelle maison.His sister is very happy with her new house.La Tour Eiffel est tout illuminée.The Eiffel Tower is completely lit up.

Asked 5 years ago

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Tim S.A2Kwiziq community member

a question about ''closes'' versus ''will close''

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.

Asked 5 years ago

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Paul F.C1Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

J'ai toujours voulu être danseuse

J'ai toujours voulu être danseuse - I always wanted to be a dancer.

Please remind me why this sentence is passé composé. It seems to me that it is something that she always used to want i.e. it describes a past continuous state of mind. I understood that verbs such as vouloir (and aimer, penser, savoir etc) usually use the imparfait (unless a specific time is specified), and that if anything the case for imparfait would be strengthened by adding "toujours" which implies a habitual state. So I was wondering why she didn't say "Je voulais toujours être danseuse" instead. Thanks.

Asked 4 years ago

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John E.B1Kwiziq community member

When do the past participles have to agree with the subject of the verb?

Asked 5 years ago

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