French language Q&A Forum

What is the difference in meaning between l'article partitif (du, des) and l'article contracte (du, des)?

"Oui, je suis americain d'origine, mais en tant que vampire je n'ai pas de pays."

Could you discuss the usage of "en tant que" please? Is there a lesson related to this subject? From the context it is easy to discern the meaning, but I would like to learn more about the correct usage of this phrase and any other related phrases.

Actually the good old fashioned dictionary is quite specific about the use of these words, and 'un immeuble' is most definitely 'a block of flats' and funnily enough not 'a block of apartments', but there again, it is a proper English (English) - French dictionary. Block of apartments - how pan loafy is that (translation-upper crust)

I thought to "manage to" or "be able to" was "arriver à," "parvenir à" or "réussir à." 

Nevertheless, we've this sentence "Mais j'ai réussi du premier coup," featuring "réussir de" + le coup. Is that correct?