French language Q&A Forum

Bonjour.

re. mal vs mauvais/mauvaise: Is the adverb "mal" used as an adjective with the copular verb être, to say "bad"?

For example, to say "good", do we only use the adjective of "good" with être (a copular verb): "Pierre est bon. C'est un bon homme." But, when saying "bad" instead of "good" with être, do we use "mal" (adverb) instead of mauvais to say "He is bad",  but use "mauvais" when a noun is present? : "Il est mal. C'est un mauvais homme." 

I find this topic confusing.

Cheryl

Do non-reflexive verbs used in the past tense with a reflexive pronoun use être or avoir?

For example, if the above sentence "Les deux chiens se fixèrent avec méfiance" is put in the past tense, do we use être with the verb "fixer" (-->"Les deux chiens se sont fixées avec méfiance")?

Or, am I asking the wrong question? In other words, in French perhaps there is no such thing as verbs that are "non-reflexive." Instead, is it that case that any verb used with a reflexive pronoun automatically becomes a reflexive verb, which means the rule regarding use of être in forming the past tense applies?

Can anyone tell me what the difference would be when  using either penser à or songer à ?

Merci