French language Q&A Forum

J'habite à Rio de Janeiro, au Brèsil.

Why is it «mal au coeur» instead of «je me sens nauséeuse»? Doesn't «mal au coeur» mean heartache?

Hi, when is "en lequel" used in French or is it grammatically incorrect? 

In the sentence Ils ont vécu heureux pendant des nombreuses années, is heureux being used as an adverbe? Heureusement, the adverb, seems to mean luckily rather than happily. Is this so?

Nous avons été très surpris en apprenant la nouvelle.

We were really surprised when we heard the news.

I would have used nous étions instead of nous avons été. Is that not correct?

In English nous avons été très surpris translates to - We have been very surprised which implies the surprise happened and is still ongoing or at least has a prolonged duration, whereas nous étions translates to - We were, which implies it happened but is no longer ongoing. The latter seems to be the correct answer to this question especially since being surprised is usually a point in time thing.

I am having difficulty in understanding some of the rules around "depuis que". For example, the sentence "Depuis je te l'ai recontré, je me sense mieux" means in English "Since I have met you, I've been in love with you". Please explain why It isn't "Since I met you". Thanks.