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
Le soir, la ville se réveillée.
Le soir, la ville se réveillait.
This is in the context of a visit to this city, which came alive in the evening. Until then the shops were closed and the streets empty. The text book answer was NOT in the imparfait. What is the rationale applied here?
I am really struggling in Mon,ma,mes and ton ta tes. Could you please help me?
Why is it incorrect to say the second phrase?
Tu en tenais deux
T'en tenais deux
Great exercise! This wonderful description of Le volcan de la Reunion reminds me of when I lived and worked in Guatemala - a magical and beautiful country with many volcanoes. Every evening, we could see the active volcanoes burning and glowing against the night sky. Like I said, magical!
I just want to ask why "nouvelles terres" is plural. Of course, I am familiar with "la terre" meaning "the earth". When I researched the meaning of "une terre" (as opposed to "la terre"), the translation given was "land". So, I wrote "quarante-cinq hectares de nouvelle terre". Which I take it would mean: "45 hectares of new land". Is this incorrect or are both variations, correct?
Merci et Bonne Continuation !
P.S. Took a break for several weeks, (for personal reasons), but glad to be back. Love this community of positive and supportive learners!
Well i bounced the question of prof / professeur off my neighbour's kids who are at secondary / high school, and to a person they replied prof or professeur. They regard "instituteur / institutrice" as a primary school teacher, and " l'enseignant(e)" as a general word for those in the teaching profession, although if it's at university level "professeur" is the norm. They should know and i'm not going to argue with them. And anyway, the prompts were clear and specific just as Cécile said so i can't see what the issue is ??
Why "la tentation a été trop forte" and not "la tentation était trop forte" or "la tentation avait été trop forte". Or do the translators usually use "was" for "has been". Is this an English phenomenon, as "was" is the "past of the past" ?
Duolingo gives a sentence:
"You will have to not make a lot of errors during the exams."
The sentence is awkward and the given answer is:
"Il ne faudra pas faire beaucoup d'erreurs pendant les examens"
but It also accepts:
"Il faudra ne pas faire beaucoup d'erreurs pendant les examens"
as you suggest it should be above. Are both forms acceptable when negating the first of double verbs, is this a unique situation, or is there another explanation?
Hello
I was wondering if there was a lesson on the verb devoir because I'm not seeing it.
Thanks
Nicole
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
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