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Questions answered by our learning community with help from expert French teachers
13,667 questions • 29,294 answers • 832,694 learners
Hello All.
I was reviewing pronouns using this page:
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/indirect-objects-2/
It mentions using the adverbial pronoun "y" and then gives an example:
Il y pense. He’s thinking about her.I thought that "y" could only be used to reference an inanimate object, not a person.
Are there special cases? What am I missing here?
Thank You in advance.
Bob
l'homme avec un couteau qui était tapi derrière le fauteuil familier de la femme / the man with a knife who was crouching behind the woman's familiar armchair
An alternative correct answer to the above was "...qui tapissait derrière..."
In that case, shouldn't (my answer) "...qui s'accroupissait derrière...' also be acceptable?
Why does the last sentence use the impersonal construction, "Pourquoi se priver" instead of "nous priver"?
Also, I translated "namely" as "en l'occurrence" but that wasn't one of the accepted answers (only "nommément" and "à savoir"). Is there a difference?
Hi. There used to be a button to repeat the exercise once you'd finished it? At this level it's really useful to be able to do that.
When to use Le Subjonctif Présent or Le Subjonctif Passé?
Regardless of the tense used in the main clause, the question is whether the main clause action will go on until the action after jusqu'à ce que happens, or until it has happened and stopped:
On est restés à l'intérieur jusqu'à ce que la pluie s'arrête. We stayed inside until the rain stopped.I've managed to confuse myself. In the example above surely the rain has completed its stopping – so should the phrase be:
On est restés à l'intérieur jusqu'à ce que la pluie se soit arrêtée
We stayed inside until after the rain had stopped
Or are both correct? Or am I just over-thinking this?
Is "des belles choses" possible? (Or just wrong).
The title of the Samuel Beckett play "En Attendant Godot" is usually translated as "Waiting for Godot". Would it be closer to the French original if the title were to be translated as "While Waiting for Godot", or even "Whilst Waiting for Godot"?
(I note that in the examples, you never use the word "whilst", always using "while" instead. )
I'm sure the speaker says "charger" and not "changer" in this exercise. I understand that "charger" wouldn't make sense in the context but it is still off putting when doing the exercise and trying to faithfully write what is being said
I keep getting this wrong because I choose the wrong answer "What is it that it is" because in the lesson for "What is it" it offers
"Literally "what is it that it is?", it is pronounced [kess kuh say]."
but the correct answer according to the test is "What is it".
Why is the literal meaning not correct? If I had my way the literal answer wouldn't be listed.
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