Answer to a test question not adequately explained in lessonI know this question has already been somewhat addressed earlier (I'll quote the comments here), but I didn't find the answer very clarifying. So I'll repeat the issue, quote the explanations that were given, and attempt to explain why I'm still confused.
In a test question, we are asked:
How would you say ''I haven't been in France for long.'' ?
The only tenable-seeming answers are:
-Je ne suis pas arrivé en France depuis longtemps (marked correct)
-Je n'arrive pas en France depuis longtemps (marked incorrect)
In spite of the questionable use of the verb "arriver", I actually chose the latter option on the basis that, in the lesson, we are told:
– Ne ... pas + Passé composé + depuis longtemps = not for a long time / not in ages -> It's over and done in the past
– Ne ... pas + Présent indicatif + depuis longtemps = not long / not for long -> It started a short while ago, and is still ongoing
Commenting on the issue, Cécile's gives this transition:
– I haven't been in France for long = Je ne suis pas en France depuis longtemps.
Like the instructions in the lesson, and the second answer in the quiz (which was marked incorrect), this translation conforms with the use of the Présent indicatif + depuis longtemps to describe something that "is still ongoing."
Chris, however, gives two translations:
Je ne suis pas en France depuis longtemps.
Je ne suis pas arrivé en France depuis longtemps.
He then explains "The former sentence talks about a period which started in the past and continues up until the present time. The second one focuses on the event of the arrival, which has no connection to the present."
For me personally, this explanation is too terse and opaque to clarify anything. It fails to explain what focusing on "the event of the arrival" changes in terms of grammar rules. Further, it doesn't acknowledge, in this instance at least, the fact that the lesson's instructions are seemingly contravened, or explain why this is so.
Either there is a mistake in the quiz (which is doubtful), or another section needs to be added to the lesson to explain this exception.
I teach Spanish and French. In the preterit Spanish, SABER (their equivalent of savoir) carries the idea of someone finding out a fact or knowing it for a short time. Is this true in French in the passé composé?
In other words, does "j'ai su son nom" carry the idea "I found out his name"? Or even "I knew his name; but forgot it"?
To me, according to the lesson, it seems like "It was the last time that you told me you loved me" and "It was last time that you told me you loved me" could both be acceptable answers for this phrase. The lesson says to use "la dernière fois" to mean "last time" when it's followed by a clause. Is it not followed by a clause in this case - "que tu m'as dit que tu m'aimais" - and therefore could mean "It was last time" as well as "It was the last time"?
I came across these examples: 1)" L'hôtel est rue.."My understanding from this lesson is that 'est rue' can only be used with se promener.2) The 2nd question pertains to whether dans or sur can be used with location E.g." L'hôtel est sur la rue.../la place... Could you clarify please.
Shouldn't the phrase be "tout ensemble" as in "all together"?
"tu n'écoutes pas Alice" sounds like Alice is the one who isn't listening
To make the distinction clearer between the 1st and 2nd examples at the start of this lesson, instead of the translation, 'I don't care about the other options' you may wish to add 'THE other'
I know this question has already been somewhat addressed earlier (I'll quote the comments here), but I didn't find the answer very clarifying. So I'll repeat the issue, quote the explanations that were given, and attempt to explain why I'm still confused.
In a test question, we are asked:
How would you say ''I haven't been in France for long.'' ?
The only tenable-seeming answers are:
-Je ne suis pas arrivé en France depuis longtemps (marked correct)
-Je n'arrive pas en France depuis longtemps (marked incorrect)
In spite of the questionable use of the verb "arriver", I actually chose the latter option on the basis that, in the lesson, we are told:
– Ne ... pas + Passé composé + depuis longtemps = not for a long time / not in ages -> It's over and done in the past
– Ne ... pas + Présent indicatif + depuis longtemps = not long / not for long -> It started a short while ago, and is still ongoing
Commenting on the issue, Cécile's gives this transition:
– I haven't been in France for long = Je ne suis pas en France depuis longtemps.
Like the instructions in the lesson, and the second answer in the quiz (which was marked incorrect), this translation conforms with the use of the Présent indicatif + depuis longtemps to describe something that "is still ongoing."
Chris, however, gives two translations:
Je ne suis pas en France depuis longtemps.
Je ne suis pas arrivé en France depuis longtemps.
He then explains "The former sentence talks about a period which started in the past and continues up until the present time. The second one focuses on the event of the arrival, which has no connection to the present."
For me personally, this explanation is too terse and opaque to clarify anything. It fails to explain what focusing on "the event of the arrival" changes in terms of grammar rules. Further, it doesn't acknowledge, in this instance at least, the fact that the lesson's instructions are seemingly contravened, or explain why this is so.
Either there is a mistake in the quiz (which is doubtful), or another section needs to be added to the lesson to explain this exception.
Since the Czech Republic changed their name to Czechia, has the name in French changed? If so what is it? Has the gender changed?
Hi
In the this expression: 'mes aisselles, que je trouve bizarrement immenses, émettent une fragrance des plus rances', why is des plus rances expressed as plural. I would have thought that the object it relates to is 'une fragrance' and not 'mes aisselles'. I'm guessing that it is plural because it relates to 'mes aisselles', but I would have thought that 'une fragrance' is a closer object.
Thanks
Megan
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