French language Q&A Forum

Why is it that New Jersey is considered a city, but California is considered a country?

What is the difference between belle and jolie? I had assumed that they both meant beautiful, but I guess I am wrong?

Please can someone explain why, when there is an inverted question and the subject is a noun, there is not a comma after the subject, as I was taught when I learned French at school?

Why is "almost identical" translated simply as "identique", rather than "presque indentique"?  

What is the reference to the "MRS P VANDERTRAMP verbs"  in the sentence below?

Just as with Passé composé, all the so-called MRS P VANDERTRAMP verbs (mostly movement verbs) conjugate withêtre in Plus-que-parfait.

I have a student who wants to know how to say the color "maroon". The hex color code #800000 gives "Maroon" as the answer on the encycolorpedia.fr site, but that's the only place I see it listed. Most "first choices" on translators give "marron" as the translation -- but how do you tell the difference between marron/maroon and marron/brown? Some give bordeaux or grenat as options -- and those are "related" colors on the encycolorpedia.fr site as well. Thank you for your help with this vexing dilemma. I hope the next student chooses something "easy" like navy blue!! :)

I'm unsure of when/how to use des

If I want to use des as in the plural indefinite article, like des carottes would it be:

J'ai besoin des carottes - I need some carrots. 

Or would that sentence translate as: I need THE carrots because de+les= des?

I think the audio was too fast for me. Please make it a bit slow as I cannot understand.

Hope it will help me.

Shouldn't there be an accent above the 'i' in apparaitront? 

I was marked incorrect for writing "apparaîtront".

Where do I find the rule about inserting "aussi" into a sentence, such as "She also used pieces of plastic." ?