“Passer un an” vs “Passer une année” (again)I am aware that this has been discussed before but it is clear to me that in certain cases “passer une année” can be used.
For example, on the web page https://acupoffrench.com/french-grammar/an-vs-annee-2/, which also explains when to use “an” or “année”, there is the following example with passer and année used to stress the duration:
“Elle a passé quatre années à chercher un travail.”
So I think it would not hurt to explicitly mention this possibility to use année instead of an to stress the duration.
For the general case (not just related to passer), I think the rule from “Advanced French Grammar”/Monique L’Huillier section 5.2.1 an/année is clearer than the “time unit” vs “duration” distinction: “an usually follows cardinal numbers, whilst année follows ordinal numbers, or an indefinite or demonstrative adjective”.
This rule does not hold for jour/journée, soir/soirée and matin/matinée and these cases are treated separately in the book.
This rule is then followed up in the book with “If the year is modified in any way, “année” should be used” with the following examples.
“J’ai vécu à Londres pendant cinq ans.”
”J’ai gardé un très bon souvenir de mes cinq années à Londres.”
Why aurait and not ferait, after all, elle fait froid.
This is probably British slang for spend extravagantly. I have never heard this used in the U. S.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfJYxwFzxNY
I think this link accords with the current lesson.
I am aware that this has been discussed before but it is clear to me that in certain cases “passer une année” can be used.
For example, on the web page https://acupoffrench.com/french-grammar/an-vs-annee-2/, which also explains when to use “an” or “année”, there is the following example with passer and année used to stress the duration:
“Elle a passé quatre années à chercher un travail.”
So I think it would not hurt to explicitly mention this possibility to use année instead of an to stress the duration.
For the general case (not just related to passer), I think the rule from “Advanced French Grammar”/Monique L’Huillier section 5.2.1 an/année is clearer than the “time unit” vs “duration” distinction: “an usually follows cardinal numbers, whilst année follows ordinal numbers, or an indefinite or demonstrative adjective”.
This rule does not hold for jour/journée, soir/soirée and matin/matinée and these cases are treated separately in the book.
This rule is then followed up in the book with “If the year is modified in any way, “année” should be used” with the following examples.
“J’ai vécu à Londres pendant cinq ans.”
”J’ai gardé un très bon souvenir de mes cinq années à Londres.”
Could you say "jusqu'à ce que j'aie trouvé la personne" instead of "jusqu'à ce que je trouve la personne"?
Hi, in
“Depuis mon plus jeune âge, qu'on soit à la maison ou chez des amis”
what triggered the subjunctive (i.e. “soit”). Was it the “depuis … que” structure?
Could someone explain the use of the definite article "les" before "deux tiers" in the following example from this lesson:
Les invités ont mangé les deux tiers du gâteau. The guests have eaten 2/3 of the cake.
Thank you.
"Il faudra qu'on se refasse ça à l'occasion". I am unclear about the function of "se" in this sentence. Would it also be correct to say "Il faudra qu'on refasse ça à l'occasion" to mean "We'll have to do this again sometime"?
The recommended translation of 'you are an animal lover and a camping enthusiast' is 'Vous êtes un amoureux des bêtes et un passionné de camping'. Is it possible to explain why 'bêtes' is preceded by a definite article and 'camping' isn't?
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