French language Q&A Forum

How do l know when to use de in the sense of some although it isn't necessarily expressed in the English sentence eg je mange DE la confiture = l eat /am eating jam or perhaps peu d'élèves ?

In the example, all the indirect object phrases start with à or au.   Au marché, à Paris. In the quiz, my answer got marked wrong.  Il va à chez Jean.  The correct answer appears to be il va chez Jean. Is ‘chez x’ a special case that does not require à? 

What is the rule for using "au-dessous/dessus de" rather than "sous/sur"?

Re "(Mes frères jouent ________ cornemuse) My brothers play the bagpipe", there is no singular word "bagpipe" in English; it should say "bagpipes".

My french prof and textbook use "e" after (only) 1, 2, and 3 but writing "le 2e avril" or something like that was marked wrong by the kwizbot. Is 1e, 2e, 3e a regional or vernacular construction?

The dialogue 'A Lover's Phone Call', has the following - "Non, c'est toi ! Allez, on compte jusqu'à trois !" Why is the third person 'Allez' used? The person is addressed as toi.  And if it was meant to be 'let's count to three, wouldn't it be Allons?

Hello!  Why is bain plural here with an s?  I would expect there would only be one bathroom to each hotel room.

Would we not always say "un" fois deux. i am not sure why the example uses the feminine article "une". I understand une fois would translate more directly to "once" instead of one times (...). or is it that Une is agreeing with fois a fem noun?

Hello!

Just a question regarding the usage of venir vs. être when saying where one is from: 

This lesson notes " To say which city you are from in French, you will use the following expression: Je viens de + [city]". One example given is "Je viens de Londres / I am from London". (And no alternative to "venir de" is mentioned in the lesson).  

However, a related lesson (À = To/in and De = From/of with cities in French (French Prepositions of Location)) gives an example using "être" to say where one is from: Je suis de La Rochelle / I'm from La Rochelle.

It seems there is a subtle difference in meaning (I am from vs. I come from), however in both of the above cases the translation given is "I am from". 

Could someone clarify if venir and être are interchangeable in this context, or if there are specific uses for each?