French language Q&A Forum

According to some text books the verb espérer is not used in the subjunctive, only in the negative sense eg je n’espere pas que .... is this correct, and if not is this a rare occurrence? Thanks so much in advance and for having such a great learning platform for French. Mark

"un cadeau surprise." Why not "un cadeau surpris?"

I can't see the difference between:

"i lived here" and "I have lived here" (options used on the test questions)

If tu is informal and vous a more formal approach, wouldn't you use Comment vous vous appellez? when asking someone you don't know what their name is? In what situation would you use Comment tu t'appelle? Merci.

I answered a time question, ten to seven AM, by writing six heures cinquante du matin and it was marked wrong. This is a correct way to write that time is it not? I know the alt is sept heures moins dix but wanted to express another option. Comments ?

I am assuming that "was supposed to" and "ought to have" are the same: "he ought to have reminded me"/"he was supposed to remind me" = "il devrait me rappeler".

Mais .......   People in Switzerland  use Septante for Soxiante-Dix And Nonante for Quatre-Vingts  

What if we write these in kwiz/test ?

In that exercise there is one sentence whose English doesn't quite jibe with me:

-- The kids finished the ones we'd brought.

I don't think the use of past perfect tense here corresponds to what you would actually use in English. You'd be more likely to hear:

-- The kids finished the ones we brought.

But I realize that in French you would actually use le plus-que-parfait:

-- Les enfants ont finis celles que nous avions emportées.

As it stands, the English sounds a bit off but it gives a strong hint as to which tense to use in the French version. Still, I would use imperfect in English and, if necessary, provide a hint for the French.

What do the professionals think?

When I speak with native speaker friends, they would never respond to any of the "tu veux... / tu penses que... / tu crois que..." questions above with a "le" in their response. I know it's correct, but is this a feature of formal French? When I'm in France, I always hear "Oui, je pense/crois/veux" as a short sentence response when I ask people if they think/believe/want something.

Actual questions I've asked native speakers and responses I've got: Tu veux aller au magasin avec moi? Oui, je veux (bien). Tu penses qu'il reste du pain? Oui, je pense. Tu crois qu'il va pleuvoir? Oui, je crois.

I only see and hear le used when people are expressing a longer idea, like in the lesson example "Pauline pense vraiment que c'est bien de faire des études?" - "Oui, Pauline le pense vraiment." where a long clause is introduced that would have to be replaced by le in a response.

What do you think?