In France, Mother's Day takes place one Sunday in May or June, but why? And where does this annual maternal celebration come from? Find out in this bilingual article.
After listening to the audio, click any word for the English translation and links to related grammar lessons.
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Bonjour Bhavani,
Could you be a bit more specific please? Are you interested in having a set of questions to go along with the reading exercise to check users' understanding of the text?
Merci et bonne journée !
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Le mot "printannière" n'est pas "printanière"?
Hi Takanari,
Thank you for pointing out this typo which has now been corrected.
Bonne Continuation!
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The use of "aussi bien que" puzzles me. Wouldn't "ainsi que" be the correct usage in this context such as:
L'Angleterre, ainsi que la France, a combattu l'Allemagne en 1914.England, as well as France, fought Germany in 1914.
In contrast, "aussi bien que", means a comparison of abilities such as:
L'Angleterre a combattu l'Allemagne aussi bien que la France en 1914.England fought Germany as well as (as efficiently as) France in 1914.
I think you are right. There doesn't seem to be any 'comparison' going on here; rather it is a list of countries that 'additionally/also' follow/do the same scheduling of la fête des Méres.
The use of "aussi bien que" puzzles me. Wouldn't "ainsi que" be the correct usage in this context such as:
L'Angleterre, ainsi que la France, a combattu l'Allemagne en 1914.England, as well as France, fought Germany in 1914.
In contrast, "aussi bien que", means a comparison of abilities such as:
L'Angleterre a combattu l'Allemagne aussi bien que la France en 1914.England fought Germany as well as (as efficiently as) France in 1914.
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I've noticed a few examples of this in previous reading exercises where the present tense is used to describe the past. Ex "En France c'est Napoléon..." rather than, "En France, c'etait Napoléon...", even in the translation when you click on it translates that phrase in the present as 'In France it was Napoleon'. I can see that the following phrase uses the passé composé so I'm just not quite clear why those two phrases don't have to agree in their tenses?
Thanks :)
Bonjour Imogen,
Thank you for your question! It is what we call ‘Le Présent historique’ or ‘historical present’. In French, when narrating historical events or facts, you commonly use ‘Le Présent historique’ whilst in English grammar you would tend to stick to the past tense. It makes the related events more lively.
En 1936, Léon Blum devient Président = in 1936 Léon Blum became President
La foule enragée envahit la Bastille = the furious crowd stormed La Bastille
Napoléon signe la loi sur le Code du Travail = Napoléon signed the decree on the Labour Code
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée!
But I don't think this article is written in the historical present. As Imogen says, the following phrase uses the passé composé.
I think this is specific to "c'est". In English we say "it was X who did something", but in French it's "c'est X". It's more logical than English, perhaps, since it's still true now that X did that.
I think Alan is correct. This is similar to French "Je suis né .. " or "Napoleon est né.. .", not «J'étais né . .» or «Napoleon était né . .». Another example «C'est moi qui ai fait les courses ce matin» whereas in English we would most likely say "It was me who did the shopping this morning".
I've noticed a few examples of this in previous reading exercises where the present tense is used to describe the past. Ex "En France c'est Napoléon..." rather than, "En France, c'etait Napoléon...", even in the translation when you click on it translates that phrase in the present as 'In France it was Napoleon'. I can see that the following phrase uses the passé composé so I'm just not quite clear why those two phrases don't have to agree in their tenses?
Thanks :)
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Bonjour Julie,
Le Bénin est un pays en Afrique, le Carême veut dire "Lent." Vous pouvez cliquer sur n'importe quel mot dans le text pour voir la traduction.
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