After trying this exercise several times in the past few weeks, I'm still trying to figure out
1) why "They stayed there to watch..." is "Elles sont restées..." instead of "Elles y sont restées.." Is "there" implied and therefore the "y" is unnecessary?
2) why s'approcher is used in the instance of the people approaching the fence while approcher is used in the horses timid approach. Both connote gradually moving closer, don't they?
Hi Adrienne,
1. We have taken the word 'there' from the English but if we had wanted to express this precisely in French we could have added a 'là'. 'Y' wouldn't work as it replaced a specifically pre-mentioned named place.
2. Both s'approcher and approcher are possible for the horses and given as a possibility.
Similar questions have been asked before and you might want to read Céline's answer to one of them-
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/questions/view/approcher-de-vs-s-approcher-de
Hope this helps!
Approcher and s'approcher are almost synonyms. The reflexive form is used if you put the focus on the person or object that is moving.
I must say I thought "there" referred to "on the path" so still don’t quite see why "y" is wrong? Or does rester already carry the sense of "there"?
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