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Questions answered by our learning community with help from expert French teachers
15,052 questions • 32,730 answers • 1,041,115 learners
Do these adjectives always agree in gender and number to the object it refers to?
I think the answer is yes, looking at the examples given, but as it is not specifically written (like in other lessons), it's always good to confirm!
Q:''Tom et Paula se sont embrassés devant le miroir.'' can mean:
Both required answers in the multiple choice are:1.Tom and Paula kissed each other in front of the mirror.
2.Tom and Paula kissed themselves in front of the mirror.
The first correct answer is the normal one, which fits the French sentence. The second one is technically correct, but the only google results of this example that I've found were linguistic works discussing how weird it was. I've asked some English native speakers (who are also familiar with French at various levels), and it is really weird. As a C2 French speaker, I also find this weird, I have never encountered the second meaning. Should we really interpret that sentence also as "Tom was kissing his own hand in front of the mirror and Paula was kissing her own hand in front of the mirror"? In an exercise on the reciprocity expressed by the reflexive verbs?
Wasn't the original intention rather to put there both "Tom and Paula kissed each other in front of the mirror." and "Tom and Paula kissed in front of the mirror"? That would illustrate perfectly the issue at hand, that the reflexive pronoun is used in French and not in the English translation.
What about "Nous, Ils/elles, they aren't used with this verb?
Good, better, best(bon, meilleur, le/la meilleure). How is "ma meilleure amie", translated as "my best friend" distinguisablle from "my better friend" except by convention? I.e. one would never say yare my better friend.
All the examples are with the verb ETRE.(TO BE). Is it correct to assume that this construct can work for ALL(??) 'copular' type verbs. I can't see it working with non 'copular type' verbs.
1)He looks great..and she does too == il a l'air bien et elle l'a l'air aussi(not sure of this one)
2)The roses smell pleasant and the carnations smell pleasant too== les roses sentent agréables et les oeilets le sentent aussi(smells ok to me).
etc etc!!
3)what about a sentence like "she became angry then they became angry too== elle s'est mis en colere ensuite ils le se sont mis (??)
Just asking 'for a friend' could you add a note in the lesson that the direct object pronoun occupies its usual place before the verb ...although it is acting like an adjective,
We don't have much to eat
Is the following a possible translation?
Nous n'avons pas beaucoup à manger
I ai utilisé "se réunir" au lieu de "se retrouver" ou "se rejoindre" mais ce choix n'était pas accepté ? Pourquoi ?
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