Devoir (and its discontents)After I had had to do my homework, I went for a walk.Really? No native English speaker would ever say this. One might say "After I did my homework, I went for a walk" but that doesn't mean what I think the question writer is after.
Having had to do something is a state of being, not something after which one takes a walk. Consider a work around to what is said: "After being in a position where I was required to do my homework, I took a walk." Weird, awkward, unidiomatic, and just strange. If this question was written by a native English speaker, it was surely in pursuit of teaching the plupurfect of devoir, which I never hear in conversation. It is something taught but in my experience never used and really never needed. Apparently, whatever exists on the conjugation chart has to be worked into a question....
When I took French in 60s, the pluperfect of devoir was translated as "must have", but I only hear the passe compose in cases where the pluperfect might have worked. Again, I never hear this said and rarely written.
Anyway you look at it, devoir in the past is a condition - not something that happens before something else happens. So no more is needed than the passe compose IMO.....
Why is passé composé used in the first sentence, Je n’ai jamais aimé… ? If you never have liked the seaside, not before and not now, isn’t that an ongoing feeling and should therefore be in l’imparfait? Isn’t it also expressing an opinion and should be in l’imparfait? What am I missing?
en ce moment, il neige dans ma petite ville et une croisière sur la Seine, en été, semble très agréable.
This is a bit subtle, and perhaps it is more advanced than an A1 level test.
I notice in the summary of the text that Président has been capitalised. "Le Président visite un musée"
I believe this is incorrect and that this should not be capitalised in French:
le président français. = the French president.
Le président de la République française = The President of the French Republic.
Although if you were speaking to the President of France in direct address , you would address them as: "Monsieur le Président/Madame la Présidente (de la Republique).
When this topic is about not using "ne" why does the question use "ne"?
As an alternative to 'il y a environ deux semaines' could you equally say 'il y a deux semaines environ' ?
Surely the suggested (in the final translation) is lacking in the latter part of the sentence. Shouldn't there be "quelque chose que vous aimez" added? How is this inferred?
Really? No native English speaker would ever say this. One might say "After I did my homework, I went for a walk" but that doesn't mean what I think the question writer is after.
Having had to do something is a state of being, not something after which one takes a walk. Consider a work around to what is said: "After being in a position where I was required to do my homework, I took a walk." Weird, awkward, unidiomatic, and just strange. If this question was written by a native English speaker, it was surely in pursuit of teaching the plupurfect of devoir, which I never hear in conversation. It is something taught but in my experience never used and really never needed. Apparently, whatever exists on the conjugation chart has to be worked into a question....
When I took French in 60s, the pluperfect of devoir was translated as "must have", but I only hear the passe compose in cases where the pluperfect might have worked. Again, I never hear this said and rarely written.
Anyway you look at it, devoir in the past is a condition - not something that happens before something else happens. So no more is needed than the passe compose IMO.....
"J’ai commencé par laver et changer les draps, ce qui n’est pas une partie de plaisir toute seule"
I don't understand "toute seule" here. It appears to be behaving as an adjective, not an adverb.
If it is an adjective, what is it supposed to be agreeing with ?
Following an answer in a recent quiz I took, an apparently acceptable way to say I remember Quebec is "Je me rappelle le Québec."
The rules of how and why this is acceptable are not explained in this lesson, and it doesn't conform to what I've learnt elsewhere. For example, the definite article is left out when expressing like/dislike of cities: "J'aime Paris et Londres."
When and why is it acceptable to use the definite article (rather than de) immediately following "se rappeler"?
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