About the pronouncation:
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diana b.Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
About the pronouncation:
About the pronouncation: Isn't there a subtle difference between the pronouncatin of j'arrivai and j'arrivais? If not, then the conditional and the future tenses would sound the same. J'arriverai would sound just like J'arriverais.
This question relates to:French lesson "Recognising all -er verbs - including aller - in the historic past in French (Le Passé Simple)"
Asked 7 years ago
Bonjour Diana !
We're taught at school there is a nuance of pronunciation between "-ai" (same as closed [é]) and "-ais/-ait/-aient" (same as open [è]).
However, this rarely occurs in practice, and they are usually pronounced the same way, either both [è] or both [é], depending on the region.
So as you guessed, you cannot really differentiate the future from the conditional in speech in the 1st person (je), apart from context.
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
We're taught at school there is a nuance of pronunciation between "-ai" (same as closed [é]) and "-ais/-ait/-aient" (same as open [è]).
However, this rarely occurs in practice, and they are usually pronounced the same way, either both [è] or both [é], depending on the region.
So as you guessed, you cannot really differentiate the future from the conditional in speech in the 1st person (je), apart from context.
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
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