French language Q&A Forum

Couldn't you say "même les personnes les plus puissantes du monde"?

Bonjour tout le monde!

Je suis perdue par rapport à ce sujet.

Il y a quelques années une personne française m'a corrigé. On ne dit pas "à moi", on dit "de moi". Je sais que la manière la plus populaire est la première (et, normalement, c'est cela que j'utilise), mais je vais présenter un examen et je ne sais pas laquelle est correcte !

Voici un liens qui supporte cette déclaration:

http://www.lefigaro.fr/langue-francaise/expressions-francaises/2017/10/24/37003-20171024ARTFIG00004-l-ami-a-pierre-ou-l-ami-de-pierre-ne-faites-plus-la-faute.php

MERCI BEAUCOUP ! 

In the writing challenge "Les noces d'or de mes grands-parents" the phrase "Et ce qu'ils se sont déclaré était tellement émouvant" appears. Why is there no plural agreement on the verb "déclaré "?

It sees to be the same case as this example in the lesson "Conjugate reflexive verbs (+être) in Le Passé Composé (conversational past)":

Elles se sont disputées = They had an argument.

Is it because the verb has an object which precedes it and the rule of agreement with a prior object takes precedence over the rule of agreement with the subject?

Something like case 3 1/2 here:https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/agreement-with-pronominal-verbs/

In the writing challenge "At Uncle Robert's 70th birthday" we are asked to translate "when I'm done with all that".

The suggested answers both use "en". E.g. "quand j'en aurai fini avec tout cela".

I wonder why "en" is required? I expect it to replace "de qqch" but in this sentence isn't that role - specifying what is being finished - supplied by "avec tout cela"?

Is there a lesson on Kwiziq that gives an example of this usage? It is not really included in En can replace de + [phrase] (French Adverbial Pronouns)

As a French major studying literature, it made sense to learn passé simple. But now, over 40 years later and speaking French as a tourist, I have no need for it. I’ve really enjoyed Lawless French until I got to level c and so many questions on passé simple! I’d rather learn helpful vocabulary and expressions/idioms than advanced verb conjugations.  Love, the site, but not passé simple!  

Just read all the other comments—glad I’m not the only one who’s not keen on passé simple. 

 Is this phrase  not a   'Past conditional " structure?