Monday, April 4, 2016

Quelque, quelqu'un & quelques-un(e)s

The indefinite adjective quelque ("some") can be combined with pronouns or nouns to create indefinite pronouns. For instance, chose means "thing", so quelque chose means "something".
  • Nous écrivons quelque chose. — We are writing something.
  • Je veux manger quelque chose. — I want to eat something.
Quelque can combine and elide with un ("one") to give quelqu'un ("someone"), which is singular.
  • Quelqu'un est ici. — Someone is here.
  • Je connais quelqu'un au restaurant. — I know someone at the restaurant.
For multiple people or things, use the plural forms quelques-uns (masc) and quelques-unes (fem), which are normally translated as "a few", or perhaps "some".
  • Ce sont quelques-uns de nos meilleurs amis. — These are a few of our best friends.
  • Quelques-unes de ces questions sont difficiles. — Some of these questions are difficult.
While quelqu'un only refers to people, quelques-un(e)s can refer to anything.
https://www.duolingo.com/skill/fr/Pronouns-2



Y & Lui

For most verbs, personal indirect object pronouns like lui can only refer to people or animals, but you can use the adverbial pronoun y for inanimate things.
  • Elle ressemble à sa mère. ⇒ Elle lui ressemble. — She resembles her.
  • Ça ressemble à un robot. ⇒ Ça y ressemble. — It resembles it.
Some verbs allow personal pronouns like lui to be used with anything you can personify. These verbs are dire àdemander àdonner àparler àtéléphoner à, and ressembler à.
  • L’enfant parle à son jouet. ⇒ L’enfant lui parle.
  • Je demande un renseignement à la banque. ⇒ Je lui demande un renseignement.
Some French expressions don't allow any preceding indirect objects, notably être àfaire attention às’habituer àpenser àrevenir à, and tenir à.
  • Tu fais attention à elle. (Not Tu lui fais...) – You are paying attention to her.
  • Il pense à elle. (Not Il lui pense...) – He thinks of her.
Remember that y can also refer to locations.
  • J'y vais. — I'm going there.
  • Il y était. — He was there.
https://www.duolingo.com/skill/fr/Pronouns-2



Faire vs Rendre

In "Verbs: Present 1", you learned about the causative faire, which can indicate that the subject has directed someone to perform an action. Notice that faire is followed by an infinitive here.
  • Je le fais réparer. — I am having it fixed.
  • Elle lui a fait perdre 5 kilos. — She made him/her/it lose 5 kilos.
  • Je leur ai fait faire de l’exercice. — I made them (get some) exercise.
The verb rendre ("to make") can also indicate that the subject has caused something to happen, but it's used with adjectives instead of verbs.
  • Elle le rend heureux. — She makes him happy.
  • Ça me rend fou ! — That drives me crazy!
  • L'erreur a rendu le texte incomprehensible. — The error rendered the text incomprehensible.

Stands for something



 
  •  25
  •  25
  •  8
  •  7


"n'importe quoi" is short of "il n'importe pas quoi", meaning "it does not matter what".
So the n' is a negative.
 
  •  25
  •  25
  •  8
  •  7

je dois en acheter un = je dois acheter un des chapeaux (one of the hats)
As I said, "en" can replace a singular (uncountable) or a plural:
  • il y a de la viande; je dois en acheter (some)
  • il y a des carottes; je dois en acheter (several)
  • il y a des chapeaux; je dois en acheter un (one of them)

vouvoyer = address as vous, speak formally
tutoyer = be informal, be on familiar terms
https://www.duolingo.com/skill/fr/Verbs:-Infinitive-2
















Saturday, April 2, 2016

subjunctive





 
  •  15
  •  14
  •  14
  •  7
  •  6
  •  5
  •  7


The six basic endings of the present subjunctive are -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent. These are added to a stem which is derived as follows; take the 3rd person plural present indicative, remove the "ent" from the end, then add endings as above.So for boire, you take boivent, so the stem is boiv-, so the subjunctive is je boive.
BUT, quoting from my grammar book, "If the stem of the Present Indicative changes during the tense, the stem of the Present Subjunctive usuallyfollows suit. So for boire, the Present Indicative is bois, bois, boit, buvons, buvezboivent, and the Present Subjunctive is boive, boives, boive,buvions, buviez, boivent.
Avoir and être are different, as you might expect. And then there's the Imperfect Subjunctive ...

Sitesurf wrote:
... "aimer que" which indeed drives the subjunctive mood in the subordinate clause, as well as the other appreciation verbs: apprécier, adorer, détester, haïr, préférer.
https://www.duolingo.com/comment/16040381$comment_id=16070931

Preposition + infintive

Pour generally marks the purpose, end, or object of an action. Can be translated to "in order to."

For c'est and il est, if it's a dummy subject:
impersonal expression + de + intransitive infinitive
or
impersonal expression + de + transitive infinitive + direct object

If it's a real subject:
impersonal expression + à + intransitive infinitive

http://french.about.com/od/expressions/a/impersonal.htm


the subject in the impersonal construction il est + adjective + de must be a dummy subject. If it's a real subject, you must use à instead of de.
https://www.duolingo.com/skill/fr/Verbs:-Infinitive-2


Passive infinitive follows the form: noun + à + infinitive


These have different meanings depending on which preposition they use:



Friday, April 1, 2016

Nombres

Notice the et in the middle of 21, 31, 41, 51, 61, and 71.

21 = vingt-et-un
31 = trente-et-un
41 = quarante-et-un
51 = cinquante-et-un
61 = soixante-et-un
71 = soixante-et-onze
80 = quatre-vingts - notice the s at the end.

81 and 91 don't have et:

81 = quatre-vingt-un
91 = quatre-vingt-onze

In Swiss French:
70 = septante
80 = octante
90 = nonante

Notice that multiples of 100 have an ending -s, but there is no ending -s if cent is followed by another number.

144 = cent quarante-quatre
200 = deux cents
233 = deux cent trente-trois


Mille is never pluralized. Million (million) and milliard (billion) do pluralize, and they keep their ending -s even when followed by other numbers. Also, unlike cent and mille, million and milliard must be preceded by a number.

1 000 000 000 = un milliard

De must appear before nouns for million and milliard.
J'ai un million d'amis