J’aurais voulu être un auteur.

Heather W.C1Kwiziq community member

J’aurais voulu être un auteur.

I thought with occupations there was no article prior to the occupation. Je suis médecin, not je suis un medecin. Is this an exception?

This question relates to:French lesson "Conjugate verbs with irregular past participles in the conditional past in French (Le Conditionnel Passé)"

Asked 5 years ago

Like0Answer2

CécileKwiziq Native French TeacherCorrect answer

Well spotted! Heather,

Although when you are talking about your job ( profession) you would never use the indefinite article when you are talking about a wish like here, you could use one -

Je suis infirmière mais j'aurais voulu/préféré être (un) docteur

Sometimes, the language rules are illogical just as in this case.

Hope this helps!

Like15 years ago

Ann S.C1Kwiziq community member

Thanks for asking this Heather, I was going to ask the same question and scrolling down, found yours!

Like04 years ago

Heather W. asked:

J’aurais voulu être un auteur.

I thought with occupations there was no article prior to the occupation. Je suis médecin, not je suis un medecin. Is this an exception?

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