French language Q&A Forum

Why is "He's thinking of her" - Il pense à elle instead of Il lui pense?

If someone were to ask the question "Pense-il a Marie?" Would the answer be "Oui, il lui pense."  

Why can't we use "fait le natation" as a translation for "my sister goes swimming every saturday"? In another lesson it talks about how fait le natation is for regular swimming or team.

i thought with body parts it was usually 'les' which should be used.  In the suggestions during the exercise, there were options to use either. Does it depend on the verbe (trempe or plongé) ?

I think this translation for  «Tu n'as pas une clope? Si.» is a bit confusing in the lesson.

In the English, the inversion reads as expecting that the person does have a smoke, thus the following "Yes, I do" isn't disagreement.

I think dropping the inversion and more closely following the original would better convey the French phrase, as in: "You haven't (got) a smoke? Yes, I do."

The question in the test quiz "Cette année, Michaël ________ perdre du poids" is marked wrong if you enter "doit", it wants "a besoin de".  Whilst this is correct in the context of this lesson, as far as I can see looking at the lesson comparing the use of Devoir and Avoir besoin de, the use of "doit" would also be reasonable.

What is the difference between the two? Do they  refer to different types of art? Are they used in different contexts? Is one more common than the other?

Bonjour !! It is my first time studying on line . Would you be kind to send me a study guide? How to study, what to study every day. I feel lost. Merci!!

I came across this recently and had difficulty finding a definitive answer. Examples of usage would be helpful. I read that 'to teach someone' one needs either a noun or pronoun acting as an Indirect object. If you could kindly provide some pointers it would be great.

A number of places are have a disputed status; in these cases would the form used vary with the opinion of the speaker? For instance, whilst Kwiziq states «au Québec» (as if it's a country), I can find «dans le Québec» being used.

Could someone manage to accidentally imply a particular opinion by using one form rather than another? (Presumably, this would apply more strongly to a less common form.)

(And in trying to find this out, I've discovered in/to Taiwan is «à Taïwan», following the rule for a city.)

Isn't the rule that it's l' if it sounds like it starts with a vowel, not that it actually does?

For instance, «dans l'Hérault» is the correct form, but the rules in this lesson incorrectly state «dans le Hérault».