Recognizing the different tensesHello, I am a total beginner at French, and I hope someone can please guide me. I am having trouble recognising the different tenses when reading a sentence in French. In English we would say : "He READS a book" as an answer to a question like "what does he do whilst taking the tube?".
If the question was "what is he doing?", In English we would say "He is READING/ a/ this/that". How do I tell whether the person is DOING something or DOES something in French? Example :
"Elle lit un livre" She reads a book.
"Elle lit un livre" she's reading a book.
Initially, I thought you'd have to read the rest of the sentence to work it out, but I can't imagine this is how it works all the time. In English there is a distinctive difference : "I go to the .../I AM going to the..."
"He has a.../He HAD a..."
"I watch .../ I AM watching".
Have I missed something in the lessons?
Apologies for the long winded question and capitalisation. I like to believe I am fluent in English (it's the only language I know) however I find articulating in my own language difficult at the best of times !!
Thanks
Hi everyone, I have a question. I am struggling with the les and the leur.
Why is it "les" if it is "Je les ai aidés à déménager", but "Les enfants vont au bord de le mer; je leur ai acheté des vêtements d'été."
Thank you in advance.
When you say "Believe me," do you say, "vous me croyez" or "vous croyez en moi"? Are these the same thing?
Which is better to use:
Vous avez un chat?
OR
Est-ce que vous avez un chat?
Why prefer one over the other?
Why is it that "délicieuses" is plural, in agreement with "moules", and not with "l'air"?
D'abord, ils ont pris des feuilles de papier rouge, orange et jaune,
I'm struggling to see why rouge and jaune are singular.
I know it is correct, for example : des feuilles de papier blanc = white sheets of paper.
Can anyone explain with a simple rule?
I think basically the point is the colours agree with the material, (papier= unaccountable, singular noun in this context), not with the "sheets".
Is there a general rule I can apply , perhaps about en/de + a material ?
I'm guessing it's something like this:
When describing what an object is made of, it is always treated as a singular noun ?
Thanks, Paul.
Hello, I am a total beginner at French, and I hope someone can please guide me. I am having trouble recognising the different tenses when reading a sentence in French. In English we would say : "He READS a book" as an answer to a question like "what does he do whilst taking the tube?".
If the question was "what is he doing?", In English we would say "He is READING/ a/ this/that". How do I tell whether the person is DOING something or DOES something in French? Example :
"Elle lit un livre" She reads a book.
"Elle lit un livre" she's reading a book.
Initially, I thought you'd have to read the rest of the sentence to work it out, but I can't imagine this is how it works all the time. In English there is a distinctive difference : "I go to the .../I AM going to the..."
"He has a.../He HAD a..."
"I watch .../ I AM watching".
Have I missed something in the lessons?
Apologies for the long winded question and capitalisation. I like to believe I am fluent in English (it's the only language I know) however I find articulating in my own language difficult at the best of times !!
Thanks
Bonjour madame et mademoiselle! Je m'appelle Hang. Je viens de Danang, Vietnam.
Can I write "Je les tiens précieusement" instead?
In the sentence: "On ne doit pas parler la bouche pleine." what french word translates to the word with in english?
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