French language Q&A Forum

Bonjour,

In one of the examples above:
Maintenant que ses parents n'étaient plus là, elle devait s'occuper de sa sœur.

However I'm confused because it states that Devoir with l'imparfait is "was supposed to [do]", however the translation is:
Now that her parents were gone, she had to take care of her sister.

Why is it not:
Now that her parents were gone, she was supposed to take care of her sister.

Merci

I understand why we use the definite article for one and possessive adjective for the other buy why are they both singular?

j'ai mangé pendant une heure vs j'ai mangé en une heure.

Do they have the same meaning: I ate within one heure?

Thanks.

Je peux dire ( Ferme le robiner ! )?

Merci beaucoup

would 'je peux recharger mes piles' be acceptable?

It says jusqu'à ce que and subjunctive is for until someone does something so for example 'we kissed until his parents arrived'. But could it also apply to 'we talked until it became too late'? So a second part of the sentence not done by someone but a situation without a person and action.

this combination of verb tenses in a si claus/result statemnet  seems at odds with what I've learned about them.

why not "si tu avais besoin d'aide, je serais ravie de t'aider" as a second condtional   or

"si tu as besoin d'aide, je serai ravie de t'aider" as a first condtional?