Attendre que vs. S'attendre a ce queI, too, have a question concerning "s'attendre a ce que..." vs. "attendre que..."
The Kwiz gave this sentence: "Alain expected the situation to resolve itself."
Two of the translations were simply incorrect and could be immediately ruled out. Of the remaining two:
"Alain s'attendait à ce que cette situation se résolve d'elle-même" was in the end the correct answer, but I ruled that out too, since the lesson states that this is used with a situation where the expectation is negative.
There is nothing negative about, "Alain expected the situation to resolve itself." If anything, it is a hopeful statement.
"Alain attendait que cette situation se résolve d'elle-même" was then, the only choice that fits the given phrase. Especially since the lesson states concerning "Attendre que + subjunctive clause":
"This structure is used when you wait for [someone/something else] to do something. Here the waiting is neutral, carrying no connotation of dread or expectation.
It is Certain that Alain is waiting "for [someone/something else] to do something. " And his waiting carries no connotation of dread or expectation. If anything, his waiting is Positive.
Why then, was the answer the one using "s'attendre a ce que + subjunctive clause" ?
I have read the other question about this very same sentence, but I am still not clear about this lesson.
I agree with everyone that the lesson desperately needs to be rewritten or split up into more than one lesson. I found the first part explaining the difference between, "attendre..." and "s'attendre a..." to be very easily understood. After that, things just kept getting more and more confusing.
Thank you for your help.
Merci beaucoup
This lesson distinguishes between the use of "en" and "l'". It gives examples of both but fails to provide any information about which one is appropriate and when. One of the comments says that they are interchangeable - which makes no sense as the tests insist they are not?
I'm still somehow confused on when to use des vs. les. For example, in the translation exercises,
"and boys can play with dolls" is translated to "et les garçons peuvent jouer avec des poupées".
But I thought it should be LES poupées because it's referring to dolls (in general). Is this a case of either one working?
"we were not supposed to be able to come"- I keep getting this kind of error- the first is correct, the second is what I tend to do- not sure if it is passive voice that I am missing, or if there are times when what I think is a verb is being treated like an adjective. any help would be appreciated. thanks in advance.....
Hello Kwiziq,
I was just doing an exercise on another site, where they used a complex sentence to say this:
"Ces jolies robes, je vous les ai fait raccommoder."
It made me think if it's a correct construction or not, because in these cases I always see "le/la/les" before the infinitive. Maybe I missing something?
Would the sentence "Ces jolies robes, je vous ai fait les raccommoder" imply the same meaning, is one more correct than the other, or perhaps they both work (without any ambiguity)?
Also, thank you all in advance. Thanks to your exercises and easy-to-understand explanations, I could finally break my plateau and become more confident when I'm talking to someone.
Hi,
“les descendants” is a noun, so should the translation be more along the lines of “the French-Canadian descendants of those original colonists”?
I, too, have a question concerning "s'attendre a ce que..." vs. "attendre que..."
The Kwiz gave this sentence: "Alain expected the situation to resolve itself."
Two of the translations were simply incorrect and could be immediately ruled out. Of the remaining two:
"Alain s'attendait à ce que cette situation se résolve d'elle-même" was in the end the correct answer, but I ruled that out too, since the lesson states that this is used with a situation where the expectation is negative.
There is nothing negative about, "Alain expected the situation to resolve itself." If anything, it is a hopeful statement.
"Alain attendait que cette situation se résolve d'elle-même" was then, the only choice that fits the given phrase. Especially since the lesson states concerning "Attendre que + subjunctive clause":
"This structure is used when you wait for [someone/something else] to do something. Here the waiting is neutral, carrying no connotation of dread or expectation.
It is Certain that Alain is waiting "for [someone/something else] to do something. " And his waiting carries no connotation of dread or expectation. If anything, his waiting is Positive.
Why then, was the answer the one using "s'attendre a ce que + subjunctive clause" ?
I have read the other question about this very same sentence, but I am still not clear about this lesson.
I agree with everyone that the lesson desperately needs to be rewritten or split up into more than one lesson. I found the first part explaining the difference between, "attendre..." and "s'attendre a..." to be very easily understood. After that, things just kept getting more and more confusing.
Thank you for your help.
Merci beaucoup
The question: "I'll stay until you come back."
Answer: "Je resterai jusqu'à ce que tu reviennes."
I have given the correct answer 4 consecutive times but my answer is always recorded as: "Je resterai jusqu'à tu reviennes." This is NOT what I'm typing, but the answer repeated tells me that that's what I wrote and thus the question is repeated on every test!
Why past tense is used here? Why shouldn't be present tense as she still like playing the instrument at present time.
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