Have I translated this correctly? - French Language2024-03-29T15:17:51Zhttp://www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk/forum/topics/have-i-translated-this-1?commentId=3179028%3AComment%3A12054&feed=yes&xn_auth=noCan you give me a hint which…tag:www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk,2010-02-12:3179028:Comment:121062010-02-12T09:24:21.913ZSteve Hajduhttp://www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk/profile/SteveHajdu
Can you give me a hint which one is the correct answer in this case:<br />
C'est un ....., il mesure 1,90 m<br />
a: grand homme; b: haut homme; c: homme gros; d: homme grand.
Can you give me a hint which one is the correct answer in this case:<br />
C'est un ....., il mesure 1,90 m<br />
a: grand homme; b: haut homme; c: homme gros; d: homme grand. Merci Frank.
Are you saying…tag:www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk,2010-02-12:3179028:Comment:121022010-02-12T04:43:14.201ZAl Grahamhttp://www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk/profile/AlGraham
Merci Frank.<br />
<br />
Are you saying that because there isn't an infinitive immediately following <i>apprendre & aider</i> in my example, the <i>à</i> isn't required? Also, why is the infinitive <i>éviter</i> in your example preceded by <i>à</i>. Doesn't the infinitive contain the preposition already? What am I missing?<br />
<br />
Regards<br />
Al
Merci Frank.<br />
<br />
Are you saying that because there isn't an infinitive immediately following <i>apprendre & aider</i> in my example, the <i>à</i> isn't required? Also, why is the infinitive <i>éviter</i> in your example preceded by <i>à</i>. Doesn't the infinitive contain the preposition already? What am I missing?<br />
<br />
Regards<br />
Al Hi Al,
Here's a correction:…tag:www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk,2010-02-11:3179028:Comment:120922010-02-11T08:11:01.245ZFrankhttp://www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk/profile/j
Hi Al,<br />
<br />
Here's a correction:<br />
<br />
<b>Je veux apprendre <s>à</s> le français pour aider mon cerveau <u>à</u> éviter <u>de</u> devenir <u>du</u> fromage</b>.<br />
<br />
Constructions like <b>apprendre à</b>, <b>commencer à</b> and <b>essayer de</b> are always followed by a verb in its infinitive form, never by a noun.<br />
<br />
Also, pay attention to the difference between <b>le fromage</b> (the cheese, i.e. a specific cheese) vs <b>du fromage</b> (cheese).
Hi Al,<br />
<br />
Here's a correction:<br />
<br />
<b>Je veux apprendre <s>à</s> le français pour aider mon cerveau <u>à</u> éviter <u>de</u> devenir <u>du</u> fromage</b>.<br />
<br />
Constructions like <b>apprendre à</b>, <b>commencer à</b> and <b>essayer de</b> are always followed by a verb in its infinitive form, never by a noun.<br />
<br />
Also, pay attention to the difference between <b>le fromage</b> (the cheese, i.e. a specific cheese) vs <b>du fromage</b> (cheese). Thanks Neil--the comments abo…tag:www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk,2010-02-08:3179028:Comment:120632010-02-08T22:15:48.653ZAl Grahamhttp://www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk/profile/AlGraham
Thanks Neil--the comments about <i>que</i> and <i>- when you have "to" before an infinitive meaning "in order to", the usual preposition is pour</i> are particularly helpful.<br />
<br />
I've long found it confusing to distinguish between when a preposition is needed before an infinitive and when it isn't. Your 'in order to' comment makes me think that as long as a simple declarative statement is made on its own (<i>si vous veulez chanter, c'est bien</i>) no preposition is required.<br />
<br />
But, in a sentence…
Thanks Neil--the comments about <i>que</i> and <i>- when you have "to" before an infinitive meaning "in order to", the usual preposition is pour</i> are particularly helpful.<br />
<br />
I've long found it confusing to distinguish between when a preposition is needed before an infinitive and when it isn't. Your 'in order to' comment makes me think that as long as a simple declarative statement is made on its own (<i>si vous veulez chanter, c'est bien</i>) no preposition is required.<br />
<br />
But, in a sentence like this: <i>Je veux apprendre à le français pour aider à mon cerveau éviter devenir le fromage</i> have I got the prepositions in the right place? (I understand <i>apprendre</i> and <i>aider</i> are prepositional verbs and must be followed by <i>à</i>.) I'm trying to say "I want to learn French to keep my brain from turning to cheese."<br />
<br />
Regards,<br />
Al A few tips:
- in English, wh…tag:www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk,2010-02-08:3179028:Comment:120622010-02-08T15:00:01.907ZNeil Coffeyhttp://www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk/profile/NeilCoffey
A few tips:<br />
<br />
- in English, whenever "that"/"which"/"who" is optional, you generally need que in French-- so "Ma mère est la première personne <u>que</u> j'ai connue qui...".<br />
- be careful of <b>vieux</b>, masculine, vs <b>vieille</b>, feminine<br />
- be careful of the plural: <b><u>nos</u> vieux vêtements</b><br />
- for "nowadays", you could actually just say <b>aujourd'hui</b> and it would be understood to mean "today in general", "nowadays"; otherwise, the usual expression is <b>de nos jours</b>. If you…
A few tips:<br />
<br />
- in English, whenever "that"/"which"/"who" is optional, you generally need que in French-- so "Ma mère est la première personne <u>que</u> j'ai connue qui...".<br />
- be careful of <b>vieux</b>, masculine, vs <b>vieille</b>, feminine<br />
- be careful of the plural: <b><u>nos</u> vieux vêtements</b><br />
- for "nowadays", you could actually just say <b>aujourd'hui</b> and it would be understood to mean "today in general", "nowadays"; otherwise, the usual expression is <b>de nos jours</b>. If you use ces jours, it's more usual to qualify it: <b>ces derniers jours</b> ("these last few days"), <b>ces jours-là</b> ("during those days").<br />
- when you have "to" before an infinitive meaning "in order to", the usual preposition is <b>pour</b>: <b>elle utilisait nos vieux vêtements <u>pour</u> fabriquer</b>.... In this particular case, another idiomatic way of saying it would be <b>elle <u>se servait</u> de nos vieux vêtements pour</b>....<br />
- to say "change something into something", the preposition for "into" is <b>en</b> (<b>changer/transformer qch en qch</b>). You could also use the construction <b>faire de qch qch</b>, e.g. <b>ils font de leur vieille camionette une nouvelle maison</b>.<br />
- for "Once an object's first life has ended", I think an idiomatic way of saying this would be <b>Une fois un objet arrivé à la fin de sa première vie utile</b>.<br />
- for "It's good to know that...", think about maybe <b>Il est rassurant de savoir que...</b> Hi Al!
Yes its called the "BA…tag:www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk,2010-02-08:3179028:Comment:120602010-02-08T13:39:14.624ZPamela Kingfisherhttp://www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk/profile/PamelaKingfisher
Hi Al!<br />
Yes its called the "BAGS" rule, beauty, age, goodness and size tend to go before the noun, see<br />
<a href="http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=bags+rule+in+french&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8" target="_blank">http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=bags+rule+in+french&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8</a><br />
<br />
also,some adjectives take a different meaning depending upon where they are placed. For example, adjectives placed before a word tend to be the figurative…
Hi Al!<br />
Yes its called the "BAGS" rule, beauty, age, goodness and size tend to go before the noun, see<br />
<a href="http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=bags+rule+in+french&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8" target="_blank">http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=bags+rule+in+french&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8</a><br />
<br />
also,some adjectives take a different meaning depending upon where they are placed. For example, adjectives placed before a word tend to be the figurative sense of the word.<br />
Mon ancienne maison--my former house, une maison ancienne, an old house.<br />
Pam Thank you Pam, that's very he…tag:www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk,2010-02-08:3179028:Comment:120562010-02-08T03:25:45.869ZAl Grahamhttp://www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk/profile/AlGraham
Thank you Pam, that's very helpful.<br />
<br />
I still have lots of problems with the placement of adjectives, and I never can figure out whether I need to use <i>à</i> in front of an infinitive (à fabriquer, à savoir)--it always seems redundant. Do you happen to know any rule of thumb for this?<br />
<br />
Regards,<br />
Al
Thank you Pam, that's very helpful.<br />
<br />
I still have lots of problems with the placement of adjectives, and I never can figure out whether I need to use <i>à</i> in front of an infinitive (à fabriquer, à savoir)--it always seems redundant. Do you happen to know any rule of thumb for this?<br />
<br />
Regards,<br />
Al Ma mère était la première per…tag:www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk,2010-02-08:3179028:Comment:120542010-02-08T02:39:33.964ZPamela Kingfisherhttp://www.forum.french-linguistics.co.uk/profile/PamelaKingfisher
Ma mère était la première personne que j'ai connu qui recyclait--elle utilisait notre vieux vêtements à fabriquer les couettes. Ces jours, les gens imaginitifs changent les clés individuelles du clavier de l'ordinateur aux boutons de manchettes, les boîtes de soda aux avions jouets, et les vieilles wagons de marchandises aux maisons. Après la première vie<br />
d’un objet est fini, c’est bon à savoir qu' il peut avoir une nouvelle vie .<br />
I'm sure I have made some mistakes too, but this is my…
Ma mère était la première personne que j'ai connu qui recyclait--elle utilisait notre vieux vêtements à fabriquer les couettes. Ces jours, les gens imaginitifs changent les clés individuelles du clavier de l'ordinateur aux boutons de manchettes, les boîtes de soda aux avions jouets, et les vieilles wagons de marchandises aux maisons. Après la première vie<br />
d’un objet est fini, c’est bon à savoir qu' il peut avoir une nouvelle vie .<br />
I'm sure I have made some mistakes too, but this is my attempt!<br />
Pam