French language Q&A Forum

Why is it "d'une" and "de boire" ?

Elle trouve que Sam EST belle.

versus

Elle trouve Sam ennuyeuse.

Does it work as a guide/rule that:

The presence of a conjugated verb after "trouve que" suggest both that

1) "trouve que" is being used in the sense of "think/find that...(clause)," and also

2) that "que" is necessary in the formation of such a sentence?

For comparison: "Elle trouve Sam est belle" would be grammatically incorrect.

Why is it 'je venais'  when she is saying 'I was calling' rather than using appeler e.g. J'appelais simplement...'?

Thanks

Bonjour!

Hi I was wondering when looking over the Qu'est - ce que c'est is it correct to always use that since it would be more formal? Or can you use c'est quoi when talking to a friend?

Merci

Nicole

Very 'tricky/unnatural' syntax for this 'idiom' 

le gâteau était en forme de fusée ! so forme and fusée are two nouns with noun 2 acting  as adjective (like 'la salle de classe). No article before first noun because of preposition 'en' which  kinda  fools us(well me) a bit. I tried "they made rocket shaped  cakes" and got "ils ont fait des gâteaux en forme de fusée". Rockets have ONE SHAPE and thus all the cakes had that ONE shape.

I tried "they made cards in the shapes of flowers" and got "ils ont fait des cartes en forme de fleurs". Not 'formes'! Usually even behind idioms are solid grammatical truths.. I suspect this is a dumb question but does  the use of 'en' in this context require a singular noun. Examples of 'not' dont come to mind... unless with a noun like 'larmes' which is really be default plural.

In a quiz my answer to "You [formal] are cold" was "Vous êtes froid" but it was marked wrong with the correct answer supposed to be Vous avez froid.   Contradictions the lesson entirely !

For wild boars, can we use 'le marcassin'?

What is triggering the use of 'en' in the sentence 'le destin en a décidé autrement' ? Is it the fact that 'décider' implies a clause starting with 'de' - or something else ?

I often can't see a simple 'de...' clause that could be interchanged with the 'en'.

Is there a lesson that clearly compares when to use each of these. I'm struggling to distinguish between the three and was hoping for a side by side comparison.

Thanks.

Why is "I really feel like an ice cream !" "J'ai vraiment envie d'une glace !" in the past tense? Isn't the statement in the present tense as it is happening now?