French language Q&A Forum

Hi! Perhaps someone can clarify a problem I have in distinguishing when to use "de" versus "du".  I don't have any problems distinguishing between "du" partitive (J'ai mangé du pain) and using "de" when the sentence is negated (Je n'ai pas mangé de pain).  But in examples like the sentences I've listed from this exercise (Délicieuse Rédaction), how does one know to use "de" in "mon reste de ragoût" and "du" for "la porte du jardin"?  

Can one say Nothing at all...rien de tout?

I am assuming that one would say "cent vingt et un" for one hundred twenty-one?  Keeping the "et" between vingt and un.

In the test for this lesson there is a sentence "Tu arriveras d'ici lundi"  and the answer is  "You'll get here by Monday.".

Isn't this a wrong translation?  The sentence should be "you will arrive BY Monday(d'ici lundi). To say "you will get HERE by Monday" should be "Tu y arriveras d'ici lundi" or cringe "Tu  arriveras ICI d'ici lundi. " 

Unless the verb arriver without a destination defaults to "here".

What is the English translation for “histoire d’en profiter au maximum tant que ça dure.”

Merci

On my computer the hints are shown on the phrase after they are needed - eg tout le monde.  I have seen this on many of the excercises.

To me, according to the lesson, it seems like "It was the last time that you told me you loved me" and "It was last time that you told me you loved me" could both be acceptable answers for this phrase. The lesson says to use "la dernière fois" to mean "last time" when it's followed by a clause. Is it not followed by a clause in this case - "que tu m'as dit que tu m'aimais" - and therefore could mean "It was last time" as well as "It was the last time"?

I don't know if this has been suggested already, but I've heard this acronym as a rule-of-thumb (not an absolute rule) for which adjectives in French come before a noun: 

BAGS (Beauty, Age, Good or Bad, Size)