French language Q&A Forum

Bonjour,

The online Collins dictionary gives the translation of 'être inconnu(e) à qn' meaning to be unknown to someone, which I used in the response. The correction provided for 'inconnues de' and this was confirmed by my big Collins Robert dictionary. Could anyone shed some light on the difference between à or de in this context please?

Merci beaucoup :-) 

"So that I don't get sunburnt like last time" is "pour que je ne prenne pas de coups de soleil comme la dernière fois" in this exercise. I have two questions on alternative answers. Can we use avoir instead of prendre as the verb here, and is sunburn always plural or can we use it in the singular? (My answer was "pour que je n'aie pas de coup de soleil comme la dernière fois", but seems I was probably wrong on 2 counts?) Thanks.

Est-ce que le verbe gambader utilise l'objet indirecte? (qui lui gambadait)  Merci

Bonjour Cécile, 

In the first A1 Listening Practice exercise, Liz asked whether run-on sentences are acceptable in French. Michael explained what they are. You asked Liz for an example, which wasn't given there. 

The 4th and 7th sentences in this exercise are good examples. 

I have seen so many of them throughout the exercises that I can only conclude they must be acceptable in French.  

Still, confirmation of that fact would be welcome.

I am puzzled that the correct way of expressing leaving work uses laisser rather than quitter, both of which require direct objects. Where travail is the direct object, why is "J'ai quitté le travail" marked incorrect in the quiz and "J'ai laissé le travail" marked correct? I do not dispute that "J'ai laissé le travail" is correct, but the lesson on partir, quitter, laisser, etc. is unclear. This is especially true if "travail" is considered a place and quitter is used for leaving places, which to me at least seems plausible. I have not yet taken this up with my French coterie.

In this song, divin enfant is pronounced as if it were divine enfant.  When is the liaison sounded in other adjective-noun groups?

I know that with living beings we have the choice between "à qui" vs. "auquel/à laquelle/auxquels/àuxquelles". Is there any nuance in terms of formality or elegance between the use these two options?

The English sentence, "...know that nearly 150 nudist beaches are dotted along the French coastline." uses dotted.  The translation uses 'jalonner'.  I was wondering if 'parsemer' could be used in this context.

The ce vs. il/elle question is driving me crazy!  I've created a detailed flowchart and I still get them wrong.  Why is this "C'est"?  

"Elle" is used when expressing an opinion of a specific thing, here, a school.  Your own example uses, "Tu aimes mon pull?  Oui, il est très beau."  How is this any different?????

"Parfait, je vais prendre ça"  or "Parfait, je vais prendre cela" .
Why not "je vais ça prendre" ?  Isn't the object pronoun before the verb?