French language Q&A Forum

I don't understand why arrivions was incorrect and soyons arrivés correct when:

The correct translation for "They need us to arrive before the ceremony begins" is "Ils ont besoin que nous arrivions avant le début de la cérémonie."

Explanation

Ils ont besoin que nous arrivions avant le début de la cérémonie

This phrase uses the subjunctive present (nous arrivions) of "arriver."

It expresses a requirement concerning a future action (our arriving) that must happen before a specific event (the ceremony starts).

This is the most natural and idiomatic way in French to say that someone needs you to arrive before a certain point in time.

Ils ont besoin que nous soyons arrivés avant le début de la cérémonie

This form uses the past subjunctive (nous soyons arrivés).

It emphasizes the state of having already arrived by the time the ceremony begins, which can sound overly formal, final, or focused on the end result.

In everyday French, this structure is less commonly used for planned requirements about the future.

Why?

French typically uses the present subjunctive ("nous arrivions") after verbs that express necessity or desire (like "avoir besoin que") unless you need to stress that the action will be completed before the reference point in the past or for a resultative state.

In the context of "They need us to arrive before the ceremony begins," the English meaning aligns exactly with the present subjunctive in French.

So, the most natural and correct answer is:

Ils ont besoin que nous arrivions avant le début de la cérémonie.

If your intent was, "They need us to have already arrived before the ceremony begins," you might use the past subjunctive, but that's not the usual reading of the English sentence.

I got marked wrong on skipping "Qu'est-ce que cela ?" as an option for "what is this"?

Isn't "cela" strictly for "that"?

Merci beaucoup:)

Is it possible to remove stars from notebooks if you are struggling with the concept?

Why is "animal de compagnie" not an option for the translation of pet ?

The dictation exercise A Nature-inspired Sculptor includes the sentence Depuis que je suis petite, j’ai toujours ressenti une grande connexion avec la nature" 

Is le passé composé rather than the present tense used in "j’ai toujours ressenti" because of the "toujours"? 

[PS: there’s a small error in one of Céline’s answers below - "Ever since I was a little girl, in winter, we camp in the mountains"]

I question why the imperfect verb is the answer to this question etiez? My accent that should go over the "e" is not working.

je repars

tu repars

il / elle / on repart

nous repartons

vous repartez

ils / elles repartent

QUESTION: The lesson says: "Nous repartissons"? shouldn't it be "nous repartons"?

Et Samuel se cache derrière le même buisson que Vincent 

Et Samuel se cache derrière le même buisson comme Vincent

Are these two expressions the same? 

I put the first as my answer to the question but was flip flopping between the two in the text box. Is the reason I got it wrong because there is no context to use "lui?" is there a context where "lui" would be correct?

thanks!

I know when asking someone for some thing we must use the ( conditionnel présent ) to be polite 

But i have heard people say that we can use je veux in a familiar context 

Can you please give me some examples 

Thank you so much