Grammatical error

Question

The english grammar in these lessons, is often so informal it sounds crass. French is a beautiful language, but so is English. So please do better and utilize their elegance and use what is appropriate because even in English "put" is not. rentrer = to return/go back in general, but when it's used transitively (with a direct object, like la voiture), it means to bring something back inside.

So here, “Mathilde a rentré la voiture” literally means “Mathilde brought the car back in” (like into the garage or driveway).
Technically, “put the car back” isn't grammatically incorrect, but it sounds a bit off in real-world usage.
We don't usually “put” cars back like they're groceries or a coffee mug ☕️.
We say:

“She parked the car back in the garage.”

“She brought the car back.”

“She pulled the car in before Paul arrived.”

Jim Jones · Answer

Bonjour Janet,https://chambers.co.uk/search/?query=put&title=21stI don't see why you appear to be so adamant about the verb "put".I see this as entirely appropriate in the context of the lesson.Bonne journéeJim

Maarten Kamp · Answer

Janet,

As in response to another recent comment, you seem to ignore regional differences in English usage.

"Putting the car back in the garage" is more common and colloquial in my part of the English-speaking world than any of the options you propose - even ' popping the car back ' would beat them for frequency.

I am aware that there are differences in simple everyday expressions across various regions, even within countries.

I am not sure whether the attached link has been pointed out previously - it highlights differences that often arise, but is not inclusive of all possible reasons for regional and other variations that occur.

https://french.kwiziq.com/is-this-english-correct

Cécile Janty-Davies · Answer

Just to add to this interesting conversation, the English that was given was for -

Mathilde a rentré la voiture avant l'arrivée de Paul =
Mathilde put the car back (in the garage) before Paul arrived.

Personally, if I were talking about putting my car in my garage in UK English, I would say -
I have put my car away = J'ai rentré ma voiture
You wouldn't use 'to pull' in Britain.
For me, 'to bring back the car'  would be for a situation when you had lent your car to someone and they brought it back ( to you), in this case we would use another verb, 'ramener'.
I have flagged this up for discussion.

Maarten Kamp · Answer

Cécile- agree with your post. Accords with usage ‘ down under ‘.