French language Q&A Forum

I completed this B1 dictée without a mistake--the first time I've been able to do this on any dictée at this level!  I think it really helps to have the vocabulary listed in French at the beginning--it can be difficult to choose among different options on the translation sites.  Also, the reader has a nice, clear voice.  Thanks for all you do to make learning French so satisfying!

The first hint ("they're a couple") could mean a couple talking to each other (as intended, so tu) or that a couple is being addressed (e.g. by a realtor, so vous). It tripped me up!

Punctuation isn't mentioned in the dictation so should not be counted in the score (feedback from my year 11 students).

I note that there are quests in the past to improve the content of this lesson and I am unsure whether any modifications have been made but it is still difficult to determine when devoir is an appropriate answer as well as avoid besoin de and avoir envie de.  Is it that there is an infinitive following if so why only devoir and not avoir envie de as in the case of needing to buy a handbag?  Surely it could be made clearer - google is not a reasonable guide and I want to understand!

Bonjour,

Could someone please explain why the auxiliary before apparu is était rather than avait ? The whole sentence is: 

Je me souviens encore distinctement de la manière dont j'étais restée bouche bée lorsque cette belle dame, qui avait l'air d'être faite de paillettes, était apparue gracieusement sur cet étrange engin.

Merci, Matthew :-)

In the final sentence why is dépeignait not given as an alternative verb. It seems more precise than représentait.

ive obviously missed something, but why do we need les here when tous means all (ofthem)?

In the sentence '80.000 tonnes de cassoulet en conserve sont consommés chaque année' shouldn't 'tonnes' agree with 'consommés' ?

As mentioned earlier, "chaque an" cannot be used to mean "chaque année". So I am wondering if "toutes les années" can be used instead of "tous les ans" ?