“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.”
At the beginning of broadcasts, I've heard things like, "Bonne journée. Nous sommes le mercredi 24 janvier 2024. Commençons notre programme."
Is the "Nous sommes" used formally, or conversationally as well?" Would a teacher say "Nous sommes..." rather than "C'est..," for example? Or if a friend asked for the date, would it be odd to say, "Nous sommes le 24 janvier?
When I wrote "à vélo" I received a correction that I should have written "en vélo." However, I was under the impression that both "en vélo" or "à vélo" are acceptable (see: À/en + [means of transportation] (French Prepositions)). Was this an error or is there a reason that "à vélo" is not acceptable here?
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.”
Just when I think I might have that French partitive sorted out, I fear not!
" un petit pot adorable de la confiture à la framboise." My thinking was that the container was named, "un petit pot" so why not "de confiture..." ?!
Is it correct to say "Il a encore besoin des oiseaux?
Also, is it correct to say "De quoi est-ce Catherine a besoin?
so I was doing a quiz on Kwiziq and the question was "C'est amusant." means: to which I answered "it is funny". It gave me an 'almost there' mark and I don't get why. It says the right one is 'This is funny'.
I would think that this would follow the rule of feminine place names getting en, but I keep hearing people say « dans la Nouvelle-Écosse » instead of « en Nouvelle-Écosse » like I would expect
How would you say "someone hadn't lived there since [insert year]"
Is there topic on negative with "Il ya a" Can't seem to find it.
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