French language Q&A Forum

The basic lesson here is very easily understood: regions/states/counties are either feminine, masculine, or plural, (just as countries and continents). "En" is used to express "in/to" with feminine regions/states/counties ; "dans le" is used to express "in/to" with masculine regions/states/counties. Suisse cantons have their own system which is also very clear.

I think the challenge all of us learners are having is knowing whether an area is masculine or feminine. I was able to answer both questions in my first test of this lesson only because I was familiar with la Bretagne, (from "la Grande Bretagne"); and having lived in Nimes and Montpellier as an exchange student, (many, many years ago), I remembered that it was "Le Rousillon"

Is there a website or a list somewhere of all the U.S. states, the provinces and regions of France, Canada, Great Britain, etc. and their genders? It would be immensely helpful. For example, I learned from the lesson examples that Illinois and New Jersey are masculine, but I don't know about the state of Missouri where I live, (just across the Mississippi from Illinois).

Thank you for your help. Even though it is a bit challenging, this is a great topic.

Bonjour. S'il vous plaît  expliquez pourquoi utilise-t-on le mot grosses tomates au lieu de grandes tomates. Merci. Bonne journée. 

I'm a little confused about what it means in the article when it says that "le jour suivant" or "le jour précédent" have to be used "on their own". Does that mean that they can't be directly followed by a noun or a verb, or just that you can't specify time of day by adding "au matin"? The section following where it says they have to be used on their own mentions that you can combine them with nouns (ex: "le jour suivant son arrestation"), so I'm not entirely clear on the "only on their own" part. Hopefully I'm not just missing something obvious. Thanks in advance for your help!

Just thought I mention in case some US members are confused:  Most Americans say "being/standing in line," but most New Yorkers (and some others on the US East Coast) say "being/standing on line" and only some Americans (those familiar with British English from television, movies or traveling!) would understand "the queue." So thanks for "translating" the phrase "the queue" for us Americans. 

Please could please explain to me more on how ''en'' is used to replace plural items

Le mot "printannière" n'est pas "printanière"?

The answer to this question:' Les femmes travaillent: ________ lavent et les autres cuisinen' is 'les unes'. I wrote 'certaines d'entre elles' which was marked wrong. Is it wrong because it's not what is being taught, or is it wrong because 'les autres' always follows ';les unes' and only 'les unes'? I find that hard to imagine.

Can someone correct this to me, please?

Mon rôle modèle du féminisme est Emma Watson, car elle est une inspirácion. Je pense que ell fait bonne discours et son travail dans la UN est parfait. Elle a été une de las raisons je suis devenu feministée.

I know that me changes to moi, te changes to toi, what about se? Does it become soi?

Eg: tu m'assieds --> assieds-moi

Tu s'assieds --> assieds-soi??

Bonjour Madame Cécile !

I am facing a few problems and am unable to understand the reasons behind them.

1. "He realizes you're cheating." -> Il réalise que vous êtes en train de tricher. 

In this sentence, why one doesn’t use Le Subjonctif as the expression is followed by “que”?

2. I knocked at the door, but you were sleeping." 

The correct answer was-> J'ai frappé à la porte, mais tu étais en train de dormir.

Though, I mentioned “ J'ai frappé à la porte, mais tu dormais. (L’Imparfait) 

As I was sleeping in progression when someone knocked.

3. Ils ________ écouter.(They should listen.)

Why the accurate answer is -> devraient (Le Conditionnel Présent) and not ‘doivent’ ?

Merci Madame de m’aider encore. 

Je vous souhaite une bonne journée !