French language Q&A Forum

Hi,

I'm having difficulties understanding why this lesson is under "Pronouns"... It looks to me it would be better places under "Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions"...

You can always point out that I'm wrong off course.

It might be helpful if you indicate which it is? My natural inclination is to think it's past tense.

"Tandis que le 14 février s'approche à grands pas"

1.  What does "à grands pas" add here that is not covered by "s'approche"

2.  Why is the reflexive verb used?  Would not "approcher" cover the same semantic territory?  It doesn't approach itself.

Thanks

The dictée is missing "mélange dans un moule".

If On is used to say we as a group with which you're familiar with and are part of, does that mean saying it for other groups or just random groups of people means it becomes "One Or People" ? And do French speakers receive it as so ?

George's question is interesting! Very often, in English, you may hear the following. "The front door, was it locked?".  Also similarly, "Cécile, isn't she exceptional?". The screeching-brakes urgency of the first and the wonderment accolade of the second is relayed in the format. And yet the corresponding translation is rejected in the answers. How can you repeat the effect in French if not as follows.  La porte d'entrée, etait-elle verouillée?/Cécile, n'est-elle pas exceptionnelle?

The marking is incorrectly red-lining the 's' on " grands-" in < grands-parents >. This had occurred in another lesson previously as well and was subsequently reported to have been corrected.

The use of < l'a réussi > for "passed it" is also being red-lined incorrectly, as also recently noted by James.  As < l'a obtenu > is not accepted either, this suggests only 1 correct way to say passed an exam in French.

The choice of imparfait or passé composé for devoir in "she had to work hard" would be made clearer if the rest of the sentence was on the same screen - the final screen presented would then be 'she had to work hard but she passed it'. 

(Per the lesson on devoir in imparfait or passé composé - both can be translated into English as 'had to', and it is the 'certainty of outcome/completion' that defines the choice.

Using "devoir" in the imperfect tense versus the compound past in French (L'Imparfait vs Le Passé Composé)