French language Q&A Forum

Hi, I have just taken the French proficiency exam and this was a question I answered incorrectly,  but I am confused as the answer seems to be opposite of the original sentence:

Je crains qu’il tombe malade. » Quelle phrase a le même sens et grammaticalement correct ?

Correct answer: Je crains qu’il ne tombe malade
Your answer: Je crains qu’il est malade.  I don't understand the error and I don't understand the use of 'ne' but not 'pas.'  Can anyone help?

Mes filles sont bonnes en maths, mais ni l'une ni l'autre ne sont bonnes en français.

Why no pas after "ne sont"

"Le français est parlé couramment par ________ 200 millions de personnes dans le monde."

French language is spoken by more than 200 million people around the world.

I put "plus que" since that felt like "more than" but the correct answer is "plus de." I'm struggling to understand this since it doesn't fit the same structure as the lesson examples (e.g. French is spoken by more people than Italian).

Thanks for any clarification!

I'm confused as to why at the beginning of the exercise "Si je pouvais" is used, while at the end it's "Je pourrais". Would the conditional not be used in both cases as there's no guarantee of either action taking place, so both are hypothetical?

Hunting through the comments, it appears there was a change mentioned 11 months ago, but Joseph's answer was not actually included and I wonder if the general grammar rule may have been deleted when the exception about Indicatif was added?

Celine's answer to John 3 years ago has some explanation of present tense vs. passé composé, but there is nothing like this in the actual lesson itself.

I stopped reading halfway through the many comments as it appears many other users have also previously felt the lesson did not have an adequate explanation...

Why is it essaye de when all the other verbs aren't followed by de? Also, why not essaie?

En automne, tous les couleurs me plaisent: le rouge, l'orange, le vert, etc. et j'adore prendre des photos de feuilles multicolorées! Il ne fait pas trop chaud ou trop froid donc nous pouvons avoir de plusieurs choix avec nos vêtements, c'est super! Il y a aussi les boissons chaudes délicieuses. 

Je trouve que les pronoms possessifs sont difficiles pour moi, alors corrigez-moi s'il vous plaît! 

See the first example of même as an adverb, I think that it's modifying "my mother" and thus is an adjective not an adverb.  Now if it had said, "...my mother even went..." then it's modifying "went" and is an adverb.

Why isn't ces used in this reply - given that les livres is plural

With respect, are D.G and Cécile’s posts right? Surely ne is only needed after sans que when the verb preceding it is negative, and then only in more formal French. So "Tu as fait tout ça sans que Neve soit au courant" will not require a "ne".  

The linked lesson could be a little clearer, but says:

If the main verb is NOT used with negations, then you CANNOT use the ne explétif.

If the main verb is used with a negation, you can use the ne explétif, but it is considered optional