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Hi folks,

Shall we visit Paris at your cost ?
Nous visitons Paris à votre coût ?

Is there such way of speaking in French?

satimis

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Satimis

I know what you mean here. You are all going to visit Paris if he/she foots the expenses.

I know it is correct to use at no costs. This means free.

I know it is fine to say at your convenience. This means when he/she wants.

I know it is fine to say at any cost. This means taking all the necessary measures irrespective of financial/political considerations.

I haven't heard the words 'at your cost'.

This may be fine. I don't know all the nuances of the English language.
Nous visiterons Paris si vous payez ...
We will visit Paris if you could ...

The word 'visitons' is not correct. It should be 'visiterons'.
Hi Crack1

Thanks for your advice.

I found follows on Internet;

visiterons
First-person plural future tense of visiter.

visitons
1. First-person plural present indicative of visiter.
2. First-person plural imperative of visiter

Is there different translation in French on "shall" and "will"?

B.R.
satimis
We wouldn't say "à votre coût", but "à votre charge".
By the way, if it's in the moment, don't say "à votre charge"/"à ma charge"/"à ta charge"/etc.

For instance, if you are at the restaurant with a girlfriend, and you want to cover for her, when the check arrives, you'd just say "c'est pour moi" ("it's for me"). Don't say "c'est à ma charge", it'd sound snoby.
Frank

Where have you been for a couple of days?
I miss you.
You are good at both French and English.
Hello Crack1. I'm just back from a 2 week break. Was hiking in the Alps and it was really a nice trip even though there was no way to connect to internet from here :)

Your support is really appreciated, Crack1!

Me voici de retour à Paris et je reprends le travail dès demain. Les vacances ont été vraiment trop courtes, je ne suis pas pressé de retourner au bureau. Plutôt pressé de repartir en vacance le plus tôt possible !
Hi Frank,

I hope I understand your posting correctly;

Me voici de retour à Paris et je reprends le travail dès demain. Les vacances ont été vraiment trop courtes, je ne suis pas pressé de retourner au bureau. Plutôt pressé de repartir en vacance le plus tôt possible !


(word-to-word)
Me here of return to Paris and I resume work as of tomorrow. The holidays were really too short, I am not in a hurry to turn over to the office. Rather in a hurry to set out again in vacancy as soon as possible!

(After rearranging)
I'm here having returned to Paris and I will resume work tomorrow. The holidays were really too short, I am not in a hurry to get back to office. Rather in a hurry to re-start another vacancy as soon as possible!

Please correct me if I made mistake. TIA


B.R.
satimis
Hi Stephen,

Bravo, you perfectly understood the meaning.

For the record, here's a couple of way of saying thant you want something. This is useful vocabulary to know.

- I'd like: J'aimerais / Je voudrais / Je souhaiterais + infinitive/noun
- I wish: Je souhaite + infinitive/noun
- I want: Je veux + infinitive/noun
- I feel like: J'aimerais bien / Je voudrais bien + infinitive/noun (don't say "Je souhaiterais bien", for some reason, it'd sound weird)
- I'm dying to: Je meurt d'envie de + infinitive (informal: Je crève d'envie de)
- I demand: J'exige (please note that the French verb "demander" doesn't mean "to demand", but "to ask for") + noun or J'exige que + subjunctive.
- It would be nice if: Ce serait bien si + past. It can be a shy way to ask for something.


Here's a couple of examples:
- J'aimerais manger un hamburger / Je voudrais manger un hamburger / Je souhaiterais manger un hamburger
- Je souhaite manger un hamburger
- Je veux manger un hamburger
- J'aimerais bien manger un hamburger / Je voudrais bien manger un hamburger
- Je meurt d'envie de manger un hamburger / Je crève d'envie de manger un hamburger
- J'exige un hamburger / J'exige que tu me donnes un hamburger
- Ce serait bien si je mangeais un hamburger (in informal French, "ce serait cool si" is also not uncommon)

"Exiger" is quite harsh. A Police officer could say "j'exige que vous me montriez votre permis de conduire" if you refuse to show him your license. Or a father could say "j'exige que tu ranges ta chambre" if her daughter refuses to clean up the room.
But never use it when asking something to a friend, a waiter, a colleague, etc. Even if you are the boss and you're asking an employee to do things, don't say "j'exige".

Of course, using a noun instead of a verb is an option: "j'aimerais un hamburger", "je souhaite un hamburger", "je veux un hamburger", "je voudrais bien un hamburger", "ce serait bien, un hamburger".

Now the negative forms:

- Je n'aimerais pas manger un/de hamburger / Je ne voudrais pas manger un/de hamburger / Je ne souhaiterais pas manger un/de hamburger (n' / ne can be ommitted in spoken French. Also applies to the sentences below)
- Je ne souhaite pas manger un/de hamburger
- Je ne veux pas manger un/de hamburger
- There's no negative form for "j'aimerais bien"/"je voudrais bien"
- Je ne meurt pas d'envie de manger un hamburger / Je ne crève pas d'envie de manger un hamburger
- Je n'exige pas de manger un hamburger / je n'exige pas que tu me donnes un hamburger
- Ce ne serait pas bien si je mangeais un hamburger


Incidentally, the negative form of "exiger" doesn't sound hash. It's used to describe something that's not mandatory at all.

A boss could say:
"Je n'exige pas que les employées portent un costume" (= as long as I'm concerned, employees have no obligation to wear a suit)

Hope it helps.
Hi Frank,

Thanks for your advice with examples to illustrate.

What is the difference in meaning between follows;
J'aimerais / Je voudrais / Je souhaiterais

Je ne souhaite pas manger un/de hamburger
(I don't wish to eat a/of hamburger)

What is the difference btw "un" and "de", in which occasion to use either of them ?

je n'exige pas que tu me donnes un hamburger
I don't require (that) you give me a hamburger

It sound similar to;
I didn't order a hamburger ?

Is there a difference in French?


My problem in learning French is most times I translate what I'm going to say from English to French. Unfortunately sometimes it doesn't work.


B.R.
SL
Hello Stephen,

There's virtually no difference between J'aimerais / Je voudrais / Je souhaiterais.
They're all polite way of asking what you want. You can safely use any in order to ask for something in any context.

The difference between "un" and "de" is roughly the same as the one between "one" (or "a") and "some" or "any".

Je ne souhaite pas manger un hamburger :
- Maybe you don't want one, but you actually want to have 3 of them :)
- Maybe you don't want of a specific burger
- Maybe there's just one on your table, so it's obvious that you are talking about a single burger.

Je ne souhaite pas manger de hamburger :
- You don't want of any burger. Not one, not 3, none.

(Why the hell did I pick an example about burgers? Just eating breakfast right now, and thinking about burgers makes me puke)

--

je n'exige pas que tu me donnes un hamburger
I don't require (that) you give me a hamburger


Exactly! This is a perfect translation, with exactly the same meaning.

It sound similar to;
I didn't order a hamburger ?
Is there a difference in French?


No, "je n'exige pas..." doesn't apply when something happened by mistake. "exiger" is always intentionally and on purpose.

If you want to say "I didn't order a hamburger", just say "Je n'ai pas commandé de hamburger".
"commander" means "to order", as in a restaurant.
You're right that "commander" has another meaning: "to command". But it's almost never used that way.
Hi Frank,

Your advices noted. Thanks

satimis

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