French language Q&A Forum

Not the prime purpose of the lesson - but in the examples, why is 'you have been lying' the English translation of «tu as menti» (passé composé) rather than tu mentais (imparfait)? If the English translation was  'you lied' I would understand, as that implies an episode that is finished, but in English 'you have been lying' leaves open ' for a long time' and 'and you still are' scenarios - that is the sense that it could be ongoing and it is unclear when it started. The translation has me questioning (again) what further I need to understand to grasp the nuances of this past tense distinction.

I think the discussion here indicates that there needs to be more explanation regarding these 3 verbs in the lesson above. As far as I can work out their use depends as much on syntax as semantics.  My notes eventually say Quitter is the only transitive verb and must have a direct object, Partir and Sortir are both intransitive, but Partir is more to get out (i.e. leave/escape) whereas Sortir is to go out and only means leave if it is used with de . Partir can be used without any object at all, I'm still not clear if Sortir requires an indirect object or can be used without.

(edit)... So I thought I had eventually cracked this, then 2 minutes after writing the above I get marked down my answer "Charles sort pour Londres" for How would you say "Charles is leaving for London." ? Apparently the answer is Partir, I am afraid the lesson fails make any clear distinction between Sortir and Partir.

Nous ne nous sommes pas levés tôt.       Ils ne se sont pas brossé les dents .

Are these sentences correct?  Should the past participle still agree with the noun? Could you provide more examples please. Thanks in advance.

Since the lesson title includes (+ avoir ), the reference to se méprendre  + auxiliary verb être ,  would be very helpful.

Bonjour,

I've just been explaining this to my wife and I think it has finally gone in at last

Do you have any lessons or notes on why the [nombre] occurs after les années.

Ex- "Vous étaiez étudiants dans les années quatre-vingt."

Why does one say 'appelez-le' but 'téléphonez-lui'?

Relatedly, in an inverted question like "La fille a-t-elle un chat ?" , is the placement of the subject at the beginning done solely for emphasis?  If so, would it be uncommon for a comma to appear after it?

[Edit] As usual, I found the answer after posting the question...

Apparently, when the subject is a noun or name, that subject remains in place and is repeated in the form of a subject pronoun.