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Thinking...
Questions answered by our learning community with help from expert French teachers
14,840 questions • 32,231 answers • 998,144 learners
This confused me: "- If the main verb is __NOT used with negations__, then you CANNOT use the ne explétif. - If the main verb is __used with a negation__, you can use the ne explétif, but it is considered optional"
I asked Claude (which is an AI and can make mistakes).
" The text has it backwards. The traditional rule is the opposite:
If the main clause is affirmative (no negation), the ne explétif is used (optionally, in formal/literary style).If the main clause is negative, the ne explétif is dropped, because adding it would create ambiguity or redundancy with the real negation.Examples:
Je sors sans qu'il ne le sache — main clause affirmative (je sors) → ne explétif is appropriate here.Je ne sors pas sans qu'il le sache — main clause already negative (je ne sors pas) → the ne explétif is omitted to avoid confusion."Is this a conflict between the two explanations, or am I (likely) just misunderstanding?
What are the rules for the verb passer with etre vs avoir
Most examples use de or d' ... but 'du' in Nous avons honte du projet final.
In the sentence, ”But the ceremony lasted too long and the sketches were boring at times”, I translates "at times" by "parfois", which was not accepted. Should it be?
Hello, sometimes when I type the correct word, correct spelling, correct accents, correct punctuation, and everything, the word still gets highlighted as "different" than the example given. Even though my answer is the exact same as the one given. What could be the solution here ? It is marking me down a lot of points I should'nt be marked down for.
Bonjour!
"Dans" indique que l'action (manger) débutera à la fin de cette période de temps.
Pourquoi la bonne réponse est « en » et « dans » n'est pas acceptable dans cette phrase ?
In this page: https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/irregular-re-verbs/, naître is included in "Really irregular -re verbs" instead of being grouped with "7) Verbs like connaître". Just wondering if there is a difference in present tense conjugations between the two that I'm missing?
I stumbled across a French grammar exercise and I don't understand the solution. "Tu as appelé tes parents? Oui, je leur ai téléphoné ce matin." I thought that we always used COD with appeler quelqu'un, so is there a mistake or what is the exception? Why is this not the case here?
What's the difference between Il s'habille and ils s'habillent when it comes to pronunciation? They sound identical
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