French language Q&A Forum

I'm wondering why in the sentence: "...during that period, I did not have to take the train.", the imperfect of devoir is used instead of the perfect tense?  Since it is a specific and closed period of time (three weeks), doesn't that mean it's not an ongoing action?  Thanks.  

When the owner is a person, you can alternatively use "de qui" as well as dont:

Les enfants, de qui je connais la maman, sont bien élevés.

The children, whose mum I know, are well behaved.

Can I say that
Les enfants, de qui les pères sont riches, sont bien élevés.

The children, whose fathers are rich, are well behaved

I wish your helps...
Merci beaucoup

Can I say "et je pourrais dormir plus longtemps" instead of "je pouvait"?

Can ensuite be replaced with puis in this sentence?  Are the two interchangeable or is there a slight difference in usage?

Hi there,

I was wondering if someone could explain a little more in detail why we use the present tense in the following example:

"Depuis que je suis toute petite, tout ce qui est français me fascine."

I think I kind of get it for the fascination piece, but not the "since I was little".

Thanks!

The first sentence uses J'ai passe' for "I have passed."  To me, this should be je passais (imparfait).  The writer is not describing a unique instance of an event in the past but rather he is making a general description of his actions in the past.  He is describing multiple instances.

Après qu’il fut parti, tu détruisis toutes ses affaires. 

What tense is “il fut parti”?  It appears to be a compound tense with the auxiliary verb in passé simple. 

What is “dès” in “dès l’âge de 3 ans?” Should it be “des?” I have never seen it with the accent.