French language Q&A Forum

This question relates to the use of avoir vs prendre in one of the test questions for the subjonctif linked to this forum. 

Question: "Ils n'auront pas de dessert à moins qu'ils ne fassent leurs lits".

I thought when talking about having a meal or a drink etc. the verb "prendre" was used - not avoir?

In this story, “the weather was good the whole time” was translated as “il a fait beau tout le temps”. Why do we use the passé composé here, and not the imparfait ? 

I thought the best response might instead be “Il faisait beau tout le temps” as they were describing, or setting the scene for the story. (And also it was the continuous state of the weather without a set beginning or end). 

Although I can usually understand when to use the correct past tense now, occasionally one comes along that completely stumps me! Sorry for repeating a question asked a month ago, but I’d really like to know the answer.

In a situation where we are deciding whether to use le français or simply français with the verb parler, would one or the other be more appropriate in certain settings, or are they both equally valid? I am curious if there are any nuanced differences between the two.

Are "les gens" and "les personnes" interchangeable, or does "les gens" mean "people in general" and "les personnes" mean "people, considered as individuals"? (This is the fun, and puzzling, part of learning a language - understanding nuances.)

In the writing challenge "My post-university plans" the sentence "I've heard that Isabelle is also going to try her luck in Paris." is translated as "J'ai entendu dire qu'Isabelle allait aussi tenter sa chance à Paris."

Why is "allait" used rather than "ira" or "va"?

"allait" seems to be translation for "was going", not "will be going" or "is going", yet the most likely meaning of the sentence is that Isabelle's action will occur in the future.

It seems that the explantion has to do with the fact that the sentence describes something already heard and therefore belongs to the past but the result is not intuitive.