French language Q&A Forum

Hi !

Would you tell me what activities are available after reading or listening to the text?

Regards,

D

hi 

can someone please explain why " je suis desolée que tu es triste" is in indicative but 

"je suis desolée que ton roman n'aie pas été publié en france "is in the subjunctive

i assume it is to do with negativity but the je suis desoléé hasn't changed

thanks

Follow up of a question from Sally ~ 1 year ago. 

In the context of the 'story' the mermaid is resting on the beach at sunset and 'also likes to collect seashells'.  For me, the first interpretation that comes to mind from this is 'I gather shells' not 'I am a collector of shells'. Currently ramasser is being 'corrected' to collectionner - « ramasser des coquillages » is not given as an option. 

The discussion below, Larousse definitions, and the use of "collectionner les", all indicate that 'collectionner' is more specific to 'being done by a collector' than just gathering. I don't think 'collectionner' is the best choice here as, without other context, the majority of beach walkers 'collecting' shells are not 'collectors' of seashells. Regardless of that, ramasser is definitely an acceptable interpretation in this context. And in that case 'ramasser des coquillages'.  Can it be added?

a) Je dormais quand tu m'as interrompu OR b) J'étais dormir quand tu... In sentence b) is être redundant as the verb dormir can be used?  

In the test question: Le policier est descendu à la cave à la recherche de la bête féroce.

May I ask what the pronoun 'la' refer to in 'à la recherche'? and why recherche is not rechercher after the preposition 'à'?

If these phrases have the same meaning, as noted in the lesson, why was answer deemed incorrect?

Harlan Spiroff

Not sure if I am missing an easy way to do this but when a search in QandA is done, I can't see an easy way to link to the full discussion. For example, a common question on avoir besoin de and avoir peur de has been raised again. This was subject to a very detailed discussion just recently and short of scrolling through many pages, I cannot find it to link for the questioner. I can see Cécile's answer, but the rest of the discussion is not linked from there. If there isn't a way presently, is it possible to look at doing this? There are many discussions dating back years now that have lots of good information, and also discussions arising from the other exercises that are worth referring to. 

The question in the quiz read:  Le DJ est insupportable.  Tout le monde ______ pense.  Fill in the blank with y en le, etc.  So the answer is le.  As I understand you use le when it replaces a phrase that starts with que or and infinitive.  Where is the indication that I should use le?  Thanks.

in the expression j'ai peur de....the de changes with the object  j'ai peur des chats....what about avoir besoin de  or avoir envie de...those don't change?  Why?  Merci,  Bruce