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Fereshteh added a discussion

translation

Could someone please explain the meaning of the following French phrases 1- qui-vive ; I have seen it in two situations one in which someone calls out: "Qui-vive?" and also in the phrase : "sur le qui-vive" 2 - J’ai une tête de Cendrillon ?…

13 hours ago

Bill Morse replied to Bill Morse's discussion 'garde a vue'

Thanks Neil, appreciated.

18 hours ago

James H Smith replied to James H Smith's discussion 'Plurals in singular context.'

Thanks Neil When I can have a question explained to me as clearly as you do, and I can see there is "no more to be learned"; I am quite happy to accept "parce que" and then "move on". Merci beaucoup.

20 hours ago

L N W added a discussion

infinitely reflecting mirrors

What is the French expression/idiom for 2 mirrors set opposite each other so that a beam of light bounces back and forth between them forever? I believe that it ends with "abime"? Thank you, LNW

yesterday

L N W is now a member of French Language

Welcome Them!

yesterday

James H Smith added a discussion

Plurals in singular context.

Can someone please explain to me why, in French, some nouns are written in the plural mode, when they are used in a singular context ? The following examples contain three such nouns that have recently come to my attention; Les Francais, ils par…

yesterday

Bill Morse replied to Bill Morse's discussion 'garde a vue'

Thanks James - fits the context so I'll take that. Cheers.

yesterday

James H Smith replied to Bill Morse's discussion 'garde a vue'

Bonjour Bill I believe that "garde à vue" translates (approximately) into "police custody". Hope this helps.

yesterday

Bill Morse added a discussion

garde a vue

svp, qu'est que cela veut dire? Merci

yesterday

Peter White updated their profile

on Thursday

maouAOÛT replied to Neil Coffey's discussion 'What's your bête noire of French grammar?'

When to use elision is often an issue for me, so some guidance would be very welcome.

on Thursday

M Mcglashan replied to M Mcglashan's discussion 'Brass and Copper'

You are, of course, quite correct re 'cuivre' and thank you for the additional information- although I'm not sure that using 'coppers' for coins in English really parallels using 'cuivre' for brass instruments. To any other multi-lingual people out…

on Thursday

M Mcglashan added a discussion

Brass and Copper

I have recently discovered that, in several European languages including French, the same word is used for both Brass ( which, of course is an alloy of Copper made by combining it with Zinc)and Copper. Can anyone, please, explain how then a differen…

on Thursday

M Mcglashan and maouAOÛT joined French Language

on Thursday

Tuba Yucel Boru replied to Tuba Yucel Boru's discussion 'Adjectives and "des"/"de"'

Thanks Neil. I just want to summarize what I understood to double check ith you. I have to use des + plural noun + plural adjective, and de + plural adjective + plural noun. Although in everyday French I may hear des for both forms, the correct st…

on Wednesday

Tuba Yucel Boru replied to Tuba Yucel Boru's discussion 'Adjectives and "des"/"de"'

Excuse me, I'm a bit confused :-( Because Neil says, the only difference between "de" and "des" is something related with being formal or informal. On the other hand Peter says for the first sentence "des" is used because l'arbre is a noun and the a…

on Wednesday

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