French language Q&A Forum

What does "coup de venir" exactly mean?

In being asked to complete a phrase beginning 'un' and meaning 'a kind of talent' why is 'genre de talent' marked wrong? Is that not what it means? The dictionary gives une sorte , but un type is also possible. If you want us to translate the english 'a certain talent' , which is I think wat the French means and is certainly different from ' a kind of talent' which is rather perjorative, perhaps that's what you should ask us to translate?

Le soir, la ville se réveillée.

Le soir, la ville se réveillait.

This is in the context of a visit to this city, which came alive in the evening. Until then the shops were closed and the streets empty. The text book answer was NOT in the imparfait. What is the rationale applied here?

What is the significance of the numbers (a date?) at the end? 

The sound is not clear.  I cannot follow the song.

Note also that you use qu'est-ce que if it appears at the start but quoi at the end.  

:: This sentence is a little confusing, do you think this is more clear 

Note;

you start a question with "qu'est-ce que"; in order words, "qu'est-ce que" only appears at the start of a question. However, you end a question with "quoi"; in order words, "quoi" only appears at appears at the end of a question.   

Example

Qu'est-ce que tu fais?
Notice how the sentence starts with "qu'est-ce que"

Tu fais quoi?

Notice how the sentence ends with "quoi"

Hello, I know that "œufs" has an irregular pronunciation, but I may have done better had there been a gentle reminder of that before starting the exercise. I kept entering "eu" even though it didn't make any sense. (My fault, I know :)

I'm pretty sure that the quiz got the question on "vert" wrong.  Could you please check that out?  

Vous pourrez également explorer la diversité culturelle des pays francophones en assistant notamment à nos rencontres littéraires, et en discuter les enjeux lors de nos conférences et débats d'idées. 

In this sentence, I'm thinking that in English, there would be parallel construction between "en assistant" and "en discuter." We would say "in attending" and "discussing," but I'm noticing that in French, "discuter" is the infinitive form of the verb rather than the gerund (as in "assistant"). Are the verb forms that were chosen in French optional? And in French, is the lack of parallel construction perfectly acceptable? Could this sentence have also used:

 both "en assistant" and "en discutant"  as the verb forms

OR both "en assister" and "en discuter?"

Thanks for your thoughts on this!